Five Black Rat Snake defense strategies you need to know! (Eastern Rat Snake) Pantherophus sps.) 

Walked out the door of my new residence and shockingly ran into a five foot black snake. The realtor explained they are good to have around: eat rodents, keep other snakes away and are harmless. I found you to know the facts on this snake. Thank goodness!

Thanks for the video. Living in SC. Found an injure racer today. Cleaned the wounds . Does not look good. Got in a pan with a heating pad. Vets here don't treat snakes. Hope it's better in am.

Love your videos. I've had a resident black snake living under my porch for years now. She did scare away the Carolina Wren that likes to lay her nests on the porch shelves. I'm sure she takes care of plenty of rodents for me though. Grateful to have her.

Awsome video. Your videos are the best. I wish you could have been my biology teacher.i love the outdoors.

Just found a black snake near my front door bushes looked it up and watched your vid. I feel much more comfortable with it being there after watching your video. Thank you for making such an amazing informational video!

the channel we all need through lockdowns and beyond 🙏🐍🙏

I found a blacksnake in my garage today. My husband didn’t think it was a black snake because it had a pattern. I googled it, and showed him that it was a black rat snake. We live in PA. The snake did the first three things you talk about. Finally it just slithered out an open door. 😊

Great video Frank ,I live in the western mountains of virginia.we see black snakes all the time, my girlfriend picks them up, never been bitten yet ,they are a part of our family we share the spaces together every thing you said is exactly rite. Thanks Frank and God bless !

Thank you sir you are helping me teach some people that don't know anything about snakes looked at several other channels but yours was straight to the point

Very interesting and informative!

thanks frank. You did a great job by clearly going through the 5 possible responses a black snake might have if a human encountered it. I used to go to my Grandmom's farm every other weekend growing up and we LOVED black snakes. TODAY on a trail, I encountered a "black" snake and thought I would google around and see if I could distinguish between a black rat snake and a black racer. You helped. My snake TODAY remained motionless across the trail; about 2.5 feet long, not particularly thick, but no where near aggressive like a racer. Very little white of under head/belly apparent. Didn't have camera, or this would have been an ez id. I am going with a young black rat snake. I will be so bold as to suggest - make SHORTER videos. It's hard I know. I am a mushroom identifier for a well known club. We request 300 words only when each of us takes a turn Id- ing fungi for our monthly newsletter. We put big emphasis on the clearest photos to illustrate the species of the month. Folks can then take time to focus on what is illustrated. Very good. Thanks

I have a couple of black snakes who live on my property. One of them, the larger one, loves my patio and will lay right next to me during that day. Almost everyday he will either sit next to my chair or sit by my front door. Have you seen a wild snake do this?

Great class thank you Frank!

Great and informative video! We’ve had black snakes on our rural Maryland property for over 30 years. Once, many years ago, we came home to very spooked cats. Looking around, we found a black snake “treed” in a corner of our brick chimney. DH helped the poor thing down & carried him/her to the woods. None of our cats have been the same since…over several generations! Our current, most adventurous kitty, (we’ve seen her interacting with deer), won’t walk across the front porch in warm weather! I have to pick her up & carry her to the grass.

Great channel, thanks for the upload

How interesting and you got my attention on snake topics which I didn’t mean to listen as was only looking for an image You are a good lecturer

Brilliant thanks for all the info👍

you are spot on about these snakes. i have picked them up numerous times and never been bit. also ive never got the smell from them that you are talking about. garter snakes are another thing, they seem to always stink when you pick them up.

I’m a city boy and don’t know anything about snakes I move to the Poconos and encountered a huge snake about five feet long I was scared stiff but I like animals I didn’t harm it but I gave it a lot of respect and ran to the house. I googled it and it was a black snake.

Great video. Very informative.

Hello again! Youre totally right the snake fled! It seemed like it was gonna bite me but it just hissed and took off. Beautiful animal. Still dont wanna run into him again xD

So I went outside on my deck to let me dog out. I happened to look up and saw a black stick poking out of the gutter on the house. I noticed it was a snake head. It was very still and didn't move as you said. Once I saw it was a snake I screamed and it slowly went back into the gutter. Defense number 2. I think it was in the gutter for the water and to avoid the heat. I am scared it may bite my dog or I accidentally step on it. I recognized it was a black snake with a white bottom as it was a black rat snake. Immediately started researching this. Found your video. My dad always told me black snakes are aggressive.

Awesome, Thanks

Great video Frank. It's funny that I knew all those things but didn't realize I knew them. I grew up in a somewhat rural area in N.J. back in the early 60s and loved animals, especially reptiles. I learned about snakes and enjoyed a few as short-term pets. I live in N.C. now and enjoy people's reactions when they see me handle a black snake. I really work at convincing people that black snakes are harmless and very beneficial and shouldn't be killed. Thankfully it sometimes works. Thanks for your videos and I am now subscribing.

I absolutely loved your video and learned a lot!! Just recently I found a 3 foot beautiful Eastern garter snake in my backyard and I swear it’s head was also becoming triangular, So I was at first confused about what type of snake it was. This explains it well!!

Love your video ❤ ty

Really interesting

Had a bluebird nest with five eggs (to start). One egg would disappear daily, so we knew it was the work of a snake. Last day we opened the box there was no egg…instead there was a lethargic baby black snake curled up taking a nap. Wasn’t too thrilled about that but snakes are great to have around for pest control. Relocated him to the other end of our small property and removed the box.

Thank you for this great video. We moved to a new house & saw two black snakes. I am terrified of snakes & now it has become clear to me that I need to coexist with them if I ever want to be in my backyard. This video is amazing and it made me realize how wonderful these creatures are. If you have any tips to help me overcome my fear of snakes that would be very useful. I don't want to handle them but I simply don't want to freak out & scream SOS the next time I see them in my backyard

Good video

I live in the country in Pa. We have lived here 22 years, and rarely ever saw a snake near our house. We do however get mice inside our bathroom cupboard, as access from our hot water tank is through there. The last few evevings, i had been hearing "mice" in the walls , in summer ! I put some traps in, and caught a mole, about 3 mice, then heard trap snap again, and it was a SNAKE ! IN MY BATHROOM CUPBOARD! I slammed the door and screamed...my husband came , and with flashlight looked everywhere. he said it left. it was scared. I added a few glue traps within minutes of this experience. And reset the snap traps. within minutes, we heard LOTS of noise, including snap trap. My husband went in alone and shut the door. Lots more noises..then he came out with a 4 to 5 foot SNAKE!. He had a heck of a time pulling it out, it was trying to flee by going around the corner in the cupboard which leads under the bath tub. It wasn"t a black snake..we do not know what it was. It shook him up a bit too, he ran up to the woods to throw it /release it. He said it had brownish tint, really light diamond patterns all over. It tried biting him. I am terrified their are more IN MY HOUSE. I cant sleep, its hard to sit on the toilet after watching a few videos..we live in a mobile home. It had a house roof put over the trailor roof. An addition of 1 room with a crawl space added under it, where the well tank is. We have a septic tank. How do you think it may have come in, and how can i know for sure if their are any more, /any babies ?? UGHHH! and how can i keep it from happening again? Thank you..

I’m so happy that you made a video showing people that these little guy’s will do so many things to avoid people. It really makes me mad that most people will kill a snake rather than relocate them or leave them alone. Great video keep the great content coming.

Tell me about YOUR black snake encounters! What behaviors have YOU observed! Please share with ME!

Most wicked bite I’ve had was from a pregnant garter! In her defense, I may have unintentionally been a little rough. She ended up having 17 babies. I eventually put her and the babies right back where I got her and appreciated her for the experience.

Great video! I just started making herping videos myself. I love how they mimic a rattlesnake with their tail. I just made a video of an eastern milksnake doing the same thing. I am always interested on how they have the instinct on how to do that.

New subscriber, good video, looking forward to seeing more . Thanks..

I picked one up yesterday and moved it out of my garden fence. I only moved it because it could no longer get through the fence. It had dispatched a young rabbit in the garden and could no longer fit through the chicken wire.

I love snakes! Great video.

Very good informative video about the Black Rat. I had a barn behind my house and the barn backed up into prime SW Ohio Black Rat country (Wooded Hills). The barn though, became infested with mice when we began storing a lot of stuff in it and soon enough, here came the Black Rat Snakes. The snakes were given complete freedom to roam the property at will with many basically taking up permanent residence and we'd see them sunning themselves everywhere. My kids and I really miss them! I was very concerned about the snake's safety because the new owner's wife would literally go into shock at the thought of snakes on her property. That really bothered me!

Thanks, Frank. This was so interesting! I learned a lot. We've had black snakes in our yard and I'm fine with that because they help reduce the mouse population. I always enjoy your videos.

Love these videos, thank you for making them. Could you do a video on racer snakes? I can’t tell if we have a black snake or a racer in our yard.

Thanks for all the info our snake lives in our little wood shed and he's a black snake so he lives .... We will ignore him :)

I just encountered one of these today next to the road. It was neat watching the snake rattle its non-rattle tail and making hissing noises. Oddly enough it didn't play dead. I would've picked him up and put him in the nearby forest so he didn't have to cross the road but I didn't have the time. I hope that snake is ok.

I go for a run almost everyday and yesterday had my first encounter with one of these. I’m currently trying to figure out if I can still run this path 😂

Please do a video on Black Racers. I have a huge one on my property.

Love the information and presentation! Curious about two things. I have heard stories of "Black Racer" that will come straight towards a human. Do you suppose that could be an intimidation method? Also I once found a complete shed from what I figure had to be a black snake underneath a house. It had shed skin from the tip of its tail to it's nose and I was amazed not only was it 6 feet long but it had shed skin perfectly all the way over it's eyes. How is that possible?

I ride a number of bike rail trails (PA) and often come across snakes and it has amused me how garter snakes have such nasty temperaments. Black snakes are probably one of the calmest, I usually urge them off the trail for their safety if it is a busy day. I recently came across a green snake, which I had not seen one in years, and it also had an attitude. Maybe it is a size thing.

Great video/information! The neighbor had one in her garage this morning that we helped relocate. We are just curious why its body is wavy?

Thanks for the difference between racers and rat snakes. They have some of the same habits. Both will escape into bushes or trees.

My daughters and I like to go out looking for snakes. Never found a rat snake but I’d like to. Live in WNY and I know we are within there range. Coolest snake we found are eastern milk snakes but primarily garter and eastern water snakes. Once in awhile dekays and ring necks. Would also love to see a timber rattler.

I live in WNC. We have a BEAUTIFUL shiny black snake that frequents the area around our home. We've tried to determine exactly what kind of black snake this is, and between another comparison video and yours, I believe it is a black rat snake. My daughter surprised it under a bush one day and it performed defense #4 to my daughter's great delight (she's an environmental biology major.) Our biggest experience with it was on a mulch-covered sunny hill behind our home. It hung out there for several days, saw it coiled up around several holes, sliding in and out of the mulch. It's at least 6 feet long. I believe it might have been hunting and/or maybe laying eggs? We've been avoiding the mulch hill since, watching for any baby snakes to appear. What do you think it was doing?

I just found 6 southern ring-necked snake caught on a glue trap in my garage

Last year we had a black snake get tangled in bird netting after eating a meal. I held it while my husband cut the netting off. I was amazed at how strong it was and read that they are constrictors. I was worried about getting bitten when I released it but when I leaned over to place it on the ground it lept from my hands and into our fig bush. We have not seen it since and have mice this fall. Once my Daddy and I cut slips from a neighbor's sweet potato field. As Daddy lead the way a king snake came out and began following him. When I said, "Don't look now but there is a snake behind you." Potato slips flew into the air and Daddy was gone. The snake then went into the bushes. I found Daddy still shaking with a cigarette in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other one.

a snake as small and harmless as the Garter Snake actually turning out to be extremely aggressive is absolutely hilarious.

I had someone bring me a snake that they said was a python that was in someone's yard. He caught it and put it in a box inside a box. It was put in the bed of my truck until I got off work. When I got home, it had gotten out of the box, but I could tell it was no python. I caught it and placed it in a container that it couldn't escape from. I was not sure what it was, but I knew it wasn't venomous. I took it to a local pet shop and was told it was a black rat snake. I brought it back home and turned it loose in an overgrown lot next to my house. It was roughly 6 feet long.

Good video. Would you please link referenced websites in the description?

I sighted a ~4' rat snake in my home (living area) about a month ago and for about a week later I could hear it crawling over the blown insulation in the attic daily. I haven't heard/seen anything the last couple of weeks. I hope it has moved out. However, 1. How can I humanly trap/catch it inside my home to release (miles away 😂) and 2. Can the blown fiberglass insulation harm the snake?

I grew up with the Black Racer, but we just called them black snakes because they were plentiful.

1. Bite 2. Bite again. 3. Musk 4. Bite again. 5. Musk, and maybe bite again. I kid. I had an awesome encounter this past summer. There was a rather large (5-6 ft.) specimen in the front yard. I expected the usual, maybe get some smelly stuff on me, maybe take a bite or two, but for some reason, it was very calm. I handled it for a good twenty minutes, and then relocated it into the woods across the street from me. I was very thankful for that experience. So many people hate these creatures, some having a "kill it first, then figure out what species it was", kind of mentality. Shame. Beautiful animals.

Usually these are docile. At the garbage dump in the park they'd pick up 6 pack rings, and held still to be picked up and have the ring cut off. I have had one rear up and vibrate his tail. Did NOT know they could do that. Usually I put them over my back across the shoulders. I guess its warm, sturdy, and tree like so they think they're safe.

Funny I've been horrified of snakes my entire life couldnt even watch them on video in a movie etc or id have nightmares its that bad lol but this year for whatever reason i have been watching these videos trying to learn i guess idk lol I guess also it may b a good thing to understand what kind of snake u may encounter and I love to fish and camp and hike alot so lol

Wow. Totally enjoyed video. Sad to say, I’ve probably killed rat snakes because of the 4th defense mechanism, thinking a cottonmouth. Only because I don’t want dogs at risk with venomous snake. Will figure out other options to protect my fur babies before killing a black snake. If you do have way to tell difference at a glance from rat snakes in defense (triangle head) and the cottonmouth, love to know.

I'm curious of what a bite from a black snake of that size feel like ?

I’m in Kentucky and have rat snakes in my shed and property. They are beautiful, beneficial and very mellow. I see copperheads too. I leave them alone and they leave me alone. Snakes are just trying to earn a living like the rest of us, so leave them alone

I inherited some pythons in the 1990s. One was a rock python and very grumpy. She did not like to be handled at all. Along with the striking and fleeing, she discharged that smelly fluid. It is also very slippery and made it almost impossible to hold on to her.

I found one of these laying in the street I thought it was dead maybe it was defense mechanism but is I was able to catch it what should I do just let it go it seems very slow

what amazes me is how peeps say snakes just want to bite peeps, all have ran into in the woods they ran away, the only animals that bite people are DOGS.

I live with a Black Snake somewhere in my house!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No mice seen

Will a harmless black snake flee in to the pond or is that a different snake we have on our property?

hello, I have lots of black snakes in my attic and it makes me uneasy. no-one wants o hunt them down, I have put all kinds of things and they won't get out.

I have a rat snake or two living in my yard. But one day a saw a very large tan snake out by my boat early in the morning, I was hooking up my boat to go fishing and got very close before I saw it. It quickly moved away holding its head up high but moving away. U think 🤔 it was a corn snake, but it had no pattern on its body just very bright resist tan. I wish I had a picture. It didn't seem to have a triangle type head so I just let it go as I do my black or rat snakes.

Do they live in the ground? Will they eat a small bird sitting on a nest?

Afraid of any snake! Do have a black snake in my back yard. He stays in a flower bed around a drake elm tree. I walk around bare footed. I also have a 9 lb Maltese/yorkie . Is my dog n danger? Thank you for your help.

I never mind when I get bitten a snake (none venomous). They are just trying to protect themselves. I always try not to hurt their teeth.

Thanks for the informative video. Suggestion; get back away from the camera. I doubt there are that many people who want to look up your nose.

3 kinds of black snakes? RAT, King, and Racer??

I do know this that getting bit by rat snakes and garter snakes makes you repeat yourself over and over again it's a proven fact

The best method for me is to try to see their pupils. I think that is the most definitive way of knowing a venomous snake.?😳

Actually it is Obsoletus if memory serves me. That was the original name.

caught two rat snakes stuck in plastic fence under house they were so tangled up that it took an hour to free them i was scared that i got my neighbor to help finally they were lose I put them in a bucket and released them in woods latter on I saw several baby rat snakes under house I just left them alone I have pictures and vedios

They can escape a 55gal tank and will hide in coat sleeves. Wedging themselves tight in a coat sleeve in my closet. They will keep escaping I couldn't contain them and end up in the crawlspace of my house. They will eat small mice but don't feed them until they are hungry enough to eat the mouse right away. The mouse will start eating the snake, biting and chewing and the snake will let it, just lay there and be eaten by a mouse it can easally kill.

Indian Hindi film actor Anupam kher and you are same, twin?

Me and my sisters, my sisters friend and my friend found a juvenile black snake and it fleed from us

Can a black rat snake be as fat as my arm? Or is it a racer..was on my deck and I am terrorized!!

That snake isn't a Black Racer?

Why would a black snake get into your car and hide do they lay eggs in your car this snake got in my car in a Saturday afternoon and could not find it until Monday afternoon when we got into the car with the air conditioner running came out went across my leg into the back seat

So, black snakes puff their cheeks when annoyed? How cute!

Thanks for education about snakes. Most people are ignorant about them and thats why they fear them. I'm passionate about snakes as well. My dream is to catch a six or seven foot black snake. I suspect a species that large would be approximately 30 years old.

Good video, but don't do that to your dogs!

Okay Mr Taylor how would that go if you found a couple doing the 💞 hanky panky 💞

Frank,stay clear of venomous animals. We must meet one day.

Good and fun video; until you mentioned evolution; respectfully.

Water snakes will , they're sassy and STINK.

Some people think blacksnakes mate w /cottonmouth in the wild

I had a baby black snake when i lifed in Md of Easton

I was no horse back in Md. Near Denton i saw on the trail a snake & stopped the group i was w/ then after a few min. It took off to the other side of the trail people asked what happened i told them about the snake 🐍⛎🐍

I have no problem with black snakes have even observed them doing their "stick" impersonation while a squirrel was sniffing the snake. But I have a baby black snack living under boards next to my container garden. I picked him up and moved him once but he came back. I am worried about my little toads that also live in the garden. I hope he doesn't grow up with a big appetite.