rat snake

any of several New and Old World colubrid snakes, of the genus Elaphe, that feed chiefly on small mammals and birds. Also called house snake.

[1855-60]

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Any of 40–55 snake species in the genus Elaphe (family Colubridae) and similar forms, found in woodlands and barnyards in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Nonvenomous, they kill rats and mice by constriction, and also eat eggs and poultry. Some hunt birds in trees. These egg-laying snakes are normally slow and docile, but in self-defense they vibrate the tail, discharge a foul liquid, and strike from an upreared position. The black rat, or pilot black, snake (E. obsoleta obsoleta) of the eastern U.S. may exceed 8 ft (2.5 m).

Aesculapian snake (Elaphe longissima).

Anton Thau-Bavaria Verlag

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▪ reptile

      any of between 40 and 55 species of the genus Elaphe, of the family Colubridae and similar forms. They occur in North America, Europe, and Asia east to the Philippines. Most are found in woodlands and around farm buildings. They hunt rats and mice and kill them by constriction. They also eat eggs, and some species raid poultry yards and are sometimes called chicken snakes. Some hunt birds in trees and have the ventral scales keeled (ridged), for climbing. These rather large, nonvenomous, egg-laying snakes are normally slow and docile, but in self-defense they vibrate the tail, discharge a foul liquid from the anal gland, and strike from an upreared position.

      The black rat snake, or pilot black snake (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta), of the eastern United States usually is about 1.2 m (about 4 feet) long but may exceed 2.5 m (8 feet). It is black, with whitish chin and throat—like the true black snake (see racer)—but has slightly keeled dorsal scales. Other races of E. obsoleta are tan, gray, yellow, reddish, or brown, and some are blotched or striped.

      The corn snake (E. guttata) ranges from New Jersey and Florida to Utah and northeastern Mexico. In the east it is yellow or gray, with black-edged red blotches, and is often referred to as the red rat snake. In the west it usually is pale gray, with black-edged brownish or dark gray blotches.

      The fox snake (E. vulpina), chiefly of farmlands of Wisconsin to Missouri, is yellowish or pale brown above, with strong dark blotches, and yellow below, with black checkering. Its head may be quite reddish.

      One of Europe's largest serpents is the four-lined snake (E. quatuorlineata), which may be 1.8 m (about 6 feet) long. It ranges from Italy to the Caucasus and Turkey and is grayish, with two dorsal and two lateral stripes. The Aesculapian snake (E. longissima), plain and dark coloured, is native to southeastern Europe and Asia Minor. In ancient times it was sacred to Aesclepius, god of medicine; the present isolated populations in Germany and Switzerland are descended from specimens conveyed to health resorts there by the Romans. The leopard snake (E. situla) of the eastern Mediterranean region to the Caucasus has large round red markings.

      Chicken snake is the usual name in southeastern Asia for two slender greenish species, E. prasina and E. oxycephala; both are strongly arboreal. The copperhead of India is E. radiata. The Oriental rat snake (Zaocys carinatus) of southeastern Asia may be the largest member of the family Colubridae; one specimen measured 3.7 m (12 feet). The Indian, or greater, rat snake (Ptyas mucosus) may be more than 2.5 m (8 feet) long.

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