Everglades Rat Snake
Basic Information:
Scientific Name: Pantherophis alleghaniensis
Habitat: Everglades rat snakes are found throughout the farmlands, forests, and wetlands of Florida, particularly in the Everglades National Park.
Diet: Everglades rat snakes eat rodents, lizards, frogs, and birds and their eggs.
Size: 3 to 5 feet long
Weight: 1 to 5 pounds
Lifespan: 10 to 15 years in the wild. Up to 30 years in human care.
Distribution Map:
I.U.C.N. Conservation Status:
What does this mean?
Least Concern – a species determined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (I.U.C.N.) to be pervasive, abundant, and thriving.
Our Everglades Rat Snake:
Mango – Estimated Date of Birth Between 2005 & 2007
Did You Know?!
- Everglades rat snakes typically sun themselves by day and hunt for prey at night.
- Everglades rat snakes are excellent climbers that are often found up in trees.
- Everglades rat snakes are also skilled swimmers, slipping into the water when alarmed to escape danger.
- Everglades rat snakes are non-venomous. When frightened they will vibrate their tail and expel a musk to scare of predators.
- Everglades rat snakes have been known to hybridize with the gray rat snake in the panhandle west of the Apalachicola river.
- Black/Eastern rat snakes and yellow rat snakes also exist. Black rat snakes being found everywhere from Connecticut to South Carolina and west to the middle of Kansas and Oklahoma.