Snake identification

[Cross-7]

He's living in the trailer with my kayak

 

[Margonme]

Juvenile Black Ratsnake

 

[cowboy43]

Looks like chicken snake, harmless snake, non poisonous , just makes you mess your pants. They will bite if provoked .

 

[alisonb]

Wow...It's a looong snake. We get adders around here and they have quite short thick bodies, spose that's why this one looks so long.

 

[Margonme]

Looks like chicken snake, harmless snake, non poisonous , just makes you mess your pants. They will bite if provoked .

Technically, no such critter as a chicken snake. However, it is a commonly used name that amateurs use to refer to various Ratsnakes and other similar species.

If you don't accept that, Google Chicken snake. Look under Wikipedia. It will explain that it is a colloquial term for referring to about 4 different species of serpent.

 

[RiverHills]

Grey Ratsnake maybe

 

[Margonme]

Wow...It's a looong snake. We get adders around here and they have quite short thick bodies, spose that's why this one looks so long.

That is a juvenile. Probably 12 inches long. Just looks long. The adults can get up to 6 feet. They transform from that blotchy pattern to mostly black with a white belly with somebody the scutes have black. Like a checkerboard.

 

[Margonme]

Grey Ratsnake maybe

Maybe. Gray Ratsnake is the species most commonly referred to as a Chicken Snake.

For sure a Ratsnake. It would require an analysis of distribution to separate the species of Ratsnake this one is.

 

[callmefence]

Looks like chicken snake, harmless snake, non poisonous , just makes you mess your pants. They will bite if provoked .

Technically, no such critter as a chicken snake. However, it is a commonly used name that amateurs use to refer to various Ratsnakes and other similar species.

If you don't accept that, Google Chicken snake. Look under Wikipedia. It will explain that it is a colloquial term for referring to about 4 different species of serpent.

Amateur what?

 

[Margonme]

I assume Cross is in Oklahoma. Gray does not appear to go much further west than the Mississippi River. I just Googled a distribution map. Looking more like a Black Ratsnake.

 

[Margonme]

Looks like chicken snake, harmless snake, non poisonous , just makes you mess your pants. They will bite if provoked .

Technically, no such critter as a chicken snake. However, it is a commonly used name that amateurs use to refer to various Ratsnakes and other similar species.

If you don't accept that, Google Chicken snake. Look under Wikipedia. It will explain that it is a colloquial term for referring to about 4 different species of serpent.

Amateur what?

Amateur herpetologist.

 

[callmefence]

Technically, no such critter as a chicken snake. However, it is a commonly used name that amateurs use to refer to various Ratsnakes and other similar species.

If you don't accept that, Google Chicken snake. Look under Wikipedia. It will explain that it is a colloquial term for referring to about 4 different species of serpent.

Amateur what?

Amateur herpetologist.

Hmm , you'd think they'd Google it.

 

[Margonme]

Snakes are perhaps the most misidentified vertebrate. Lots of local names. For example, the hog nose snake, Heterodon platirhinos is improperly called by the name Spreading Viper. That was the local name used where I grew up. It is not a viper. But locals continue to use that name.

 

[Margonme]

Fence, here is the Google search I referenced:

Chicken snake may refer to:

Pantherophis alleghaniensis, a.k.a. the eastern rat snake, a harmless colubrid found in North America

Elaphe guttata, a.k.a. the corn snake, a harmless colubrid found in North America

Elaphe obsoleta, a.k.a. the black rat snake, a harmless colubrid found in North America

Elaphe spiloides, a.k.a. the gray rat snake, a harmless colubrid found in North America

Pituophis m. melanoleucus, a.k.a. the northern pine snake, a harmless colubrid found in North America

 

[greybeard]

spreading viper
I've heard that called a "spreadnatter" or "spread adder" too.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Definitely not a snake expert but we call them oak snakes here Georgia. They are definitely a rat snake of some species.

 

[Margonme]

To use the correct common name for Serpentes , that is the proper taxonomic category for snakes, you can reference "The Common Names of Serpentes" in the Journal of Herpetologica. From time to time, herpetologist standardize the common names of snakes.

 

[Margonme]

Definitely not a snake expert but we call them oak snakes here Georgia. They are definitely a rat snake of some species.

Correct. There are numerous common names for Ratsnakes.

 

[Margonme]

spreading viper
I've heard that called a "spreadnatter" or "spread adder" too.

Yes sir. Spreading adder. I heard dad call them that.

 

[callmefence]

Fence, here is the Google search I referenced:

Chicken snake may refer to:

Pantherophis alleghaniensis, a.k.a. the eastern rat snake, a harmless colubrid found in North America

Elaphe guttata, a.k.a. the corn snake, a harmless colubrid found in North America

Elaphe obsoleta, a.k.a. the black rat snake, a harmless colubrid found in North America

Elaphe spiloides, a.k.a. the gray rat snake, a harmless colubrid found in North America

Pituophis m. melanoleucus, a.k.a. the northern pine snake, a harmless colubrid found in North America

If it's up round the house or barn it's a chicken snake. If it's out in the pasture it's a rat snake.
Unless you got rat's in the house, or chickens in the pasture. Then identification can get tricky.