Black Rat Snakes found on the farm eat mice and rats. They will eat birds and birds' eggs and will often raid the hen boxes in the Hen Den for an easy meal. For this reason, these snakes have also been called "Chicken Snakes." Black Rat Snakes are excellent climbers and spend a large amount of time in trees. Squirrels and lizards have been known to end up as a meal.Often it uses the hollows or dens of other mammals and birds.
Typically, a Black Rat Snake will live up to 20 years. As snakes are territorial, it is reasonable to believe that the farmer sees the same snakes year after year around the barn.
In the spring, between March and May, snakes emerge from winter hibernation. By May and early June, they seek out a mate. The male snakes generally wait for a female to pass through his territory.
Five weeks after breeding, the female will lay a clutch of 12-20 eggs in a well hidden place, under hollow logs or in abandoned burrows. Between 65-70 days after that, the hatchlings emerge hungry. They are vigorous eaters, eating lizards, baby mice, chipmunks, and small frogs, and will quickly double their size.
Black Rat Snakes are large snakes. Adults range from 42-72 inches. Snakes reaching longer than six feet are not rare. Sometimes they can even reach eight feet long.
They are not venomous, meaning they are not dangerous to humans, but they can bite. They are shy snakes and tend to freeze when first encountering danger. Some adults attempt to protect themselves by coiling their bodies and vibrating their tails to appear venomous. If picked up, they will release a foul-smelling musk and spread it around with their tails.
Black Rat Snakes are shiny black. They have keeled scales (a raised ridge line down the middle of each scale) that make it appear to be rough. They may be small flecks of whitish color on their scales, and their chins and bellies have white markings. Sometimes, after eating a big meal, it is possible to see white between their scales.
Red Barn Farm is home to several Black Rat Snakes.They are a welcome addition to the farm as they keep down the mice and rat population. That is a good thing because mice and rats eat the feed used for our cows, horses, sheep and goats.
