Which black snake imitates a rattlesnake

So there you have it. Marshal more than 4 years ago. It might have been two feet long hiding behind the electric mixer when my mother-in-law called and screamed for me to come and get the snake!

That was a first! What was he looking for? It was hot outside and on the countertop, the temperature was cool. Also some food that got left out No, I wasn't going to kill it.. George more than 8 years ago. Nearly all of Virginia's native snakes will shake their tail when they feel threatened. Kory Steele more than 10 years ago. New technologies in molecular evolutionary studies have enabled scientists to look at the DNA differences between snakes, Savitzy told Live Science.

This has caused a great deal of upheaval in snake classification, and snakes are being moved into different genera. In , herpetologist Urs Utiger published findings in the Russian Journal of Herpetology and proposed reclassifying North American rat snakes as members of the genus Pantherophis. The proposal met with mixed reactions. Some authorities adopted the classification.

According to Reptiles Magazine , rat snakes can vary widely in appearance. They can have blotches, stripes, a combination of both, or be single-colored. They can be black, red, brown, yellow, gray or black-and-white colored. They have keeled scales, slender bodies, and wedge-shaped heads, according to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park.

Their pupils are round, as are most nonvenomous snakes'. Some species of rat snakes reach lengths of 10 feet, though 4 to 6 feet long is more common, according to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park.

According to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries , this is a shiny, primarily black snake. It has a white chin and many animals have white bellies. When their skin is stretched, such as after a meal, a spotted pattern may be visible.

Spots might be white, yellow, red or orange. Bellies are sometimes checkered in gray, brown, white or yellow. Juveniles are blotchier and have white or gray bodies.

Texas rat snake Elaphe obsoleta lindheimeri or Pantherophis obsoleta lindheimeri. Their coloration varies somewhat by location, with snakes in eastern Texas being greyer while those in central Texas being yellower. All Texas rat snakes have reddish orange skin beneath their scales. They tend to have white or grey bellies and grey heads. Texas rat snakes have splotchy patterns.

Yellow rat snake Elaphe obsoleta quadrivittata or Pantherophis alleghaniensis quadrivittata. According to the Cincinnati Zoo , yellow rat snakes are the most common rat snake in the Florida peninsula. They typically have four narrow brown stripes going down their backs and yellow irises.

According to Savitzky, "red rat snake" is an old-fashioned synonym for corn snake. Red rat snakes vary in color but have yellowish or orange bodies with large red blotches on their backs, dark marks on their bellies, and a V shape on the tops of their heads. According to Ontario Nature , gray rat snakes are the largest snakes in Canada at up to 7 feet in length. They have grayish coloring with black or dark gray blotches on their backs and bellies.

Juveniles are vividly patterned, but that fades somewhat with adulthood. Juvenile southern black racers have very slender bodies with smooth scales. They also have round eye pupils.

Juvenile pattern on a North American Racer. Photo courtesy of Coleman Sheehy. Like the juvenile southern black racer, dusky pygmy rattlesnakes Sistrurus miliarius barbouri also have patterned bodies.

Pygmy rattlers are venomous snakes with thick bodies and rough, dull scales. They also have vertical slit eye pupils. Pygmy rattlers often live near water sources such as creeks, marshes, and swamps. However, they are found in a variety of other habitats such as:. Both the dusky pygmy rattlesnake and juvenile southern black racer are common in urban areas. These two snake species look very similar and are best observed from a distance due to the potential danger of the snake in question being a pygmy rattlesnake.

The best way to tell these species apart is to look at the head. The size of the eye on a juvenile eastern racer is significantly larger than the smaller eye size of the dusky pygmy rattlesnake. It should also be noted that the pupil shape of the dusky pygmy rattlesnake is difficult to see without use of binoculars due to the distinctive dark eye-band that runs along the side of the head. You will note this dark eye-band is absent on the juvenile eastern racer. Mature southern black racers Coluber constrictor priapus are black with white markings on their chins and throat.

The bellies of black racers vary from grayish to black, and they have round pupils. Southern black racer snakes have slender bodies and smooth scales. Eastern indigo snakes Drymarchon couperi are long, bluish-black snakes.

They commonly have reddish or orange-brown chins and cheeks; however, they can also be white or black. Their bellies are black to cloudy blue-gray. Eastern indigo snakes have mostly smooth scales.

However, adults have ridges, otherwise known as keels, on some of their scales. Eastern indigo snakes typically reside in:. Although these snakes are often mistaken for one another, one way to tell the two apart is that southern black racers have distinctive white chins, while Eastern indigo snakes usually have reddish or orange-brown chins. Additionally, black racers are slender and fast moving. Eastern indigos are stockier and slower-moving.