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Gray rat snake

Pantherophis obsoletus · Snakes · Reptiles

Gray rat snake (Pantherophis obsoletus): Glossy black dorsal scales often speckled with brown, orange or yellow; creamy white belly; distinct checkerboard pattern. Slender body with a rounded head and weakly keeled scales; adult snout-vent length 96-154 cm, males larger; one of the longest snakes in North America. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Pantherophis obsoletus
Family
Colubridae
In North America
Native
Range
Central United States, north to southern Minnesota, south along the Mississippi River to the Gulf Coast; west to southern Nebraska and the eastern halves of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Glossy black dorsal scales often speckled with brown, orange or yellow; creamy white belly; distinct checkerboard pattern. [1][2]

Slender body with a rounded head and weakly keeled scales; adult snout-vent length 96-154 cm, males larger; one of the longest snakes in North America. [1][2]

Juveniles grayish with tan blotches, darkening with age. [1][2]

Compared with the central (eastern) ratsnake: Western ratsnake has a distinct checkerboard pattern; both have weakly keeled scales (Animal Diversity Web). [1][2]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a gray rat snake before you act. Compared with the central (eastern) ratsnake: Western ratsnake has a distinct checkerboard pattern; both have weakly keeled scales (Animal Diversity Web).[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Rocky hillsides and canyons, scrub fields, prairie farmland, deciduous forest, swamps, woodland edges, grasslands and rural structures. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Diurnal especially in cool spring, more active at night in summer; partly arboreal and climbs to raid tree-hollow nests; swims. [1][2]

Adults eat mainly mammals (66% in one study), plus birds and eggs, lizards, other snakes and amphibians. [1][2]

When cornered coils, opens mouth and may vibrate the tail against leaves like a rattlesnake; brumates October-February in hollow trees, burrows, caves or stumps. [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Central United States, north to southern Minnesota, south along the Mississippi River to the Gulf Coast; west to southern Nebraska and the eastern halves of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Not in Canada.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Animal Diversity Web · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Animal Diversity Web