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Great Plains ratsnake

Pantherophis emoryi · Snakes · Reptiles

Great Plains ratsnake (Pantherophis emoryi): Gray to light-brown ground colour with large brown blotches down the midline of the back, flanked by two rows of smaller blotches. A V- or spear-point mark on the head leading toward the neck. 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 emoryi
Family
Colubridae
In North America
Native
Range
Southwestern Illinois, Missouri, southern South Dakota and southeastern Colorado south to San Luis Potosi and Veracruz, through most of Texas, with a disjunct population in eastern Utah and western Colorado. Not found in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Gray to light-brown ground colour with large brown blotches down the midline of the back, flanked by two rows of smaller blotches. [1][2]

A V- or spear-point mark on the head leading toward the neck. [1][2]

Belly is a black-and-white checkerboard with stripes under the tail; scales slightly keeled; anal plate divided. [1][2]

Adults 61-153 cm snout-vent length. [1][2]

Compared with the bullsnake: Scales have more distinct keels (Animal Diversity Web). [1][2]

Compared with the black ratsnake: Lacks the spear-point mark on the head. [1][2]

Compared with the glossy snake: Smooth scales and a single anal plate. [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 great plains ratsnake before you act. Compared with the bullsnake: Scales have more distinct keels (Animal Diversity Web).[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Fields, hill prairie, brushy areas, woodlands, riparian areas, canyons, barnyards and abandoned buildings; avoids heavily forested regions. [1][2]

Also rocky hillsides and areas near springs and cave entrances. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Mainly nocturnal forager; hides by day under rocks, logs, boards, in crevices and small mammal burrows. [1][2]

Semi-arboreal; climbs high in trees to hunt birds; also swims. [1][2]

Eats mainly rodents plus birds and eggs, and occasionally snakes, lizards and frogs; kills by constriction. [1][2]

When agitated shakes the tail (audible in dry leaf litter, often mistaken for a rattlesnake), strikes and releases musk; hibernates alone. [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

Southwestern Illinois, Missouri, southern South Dakota and southeastern Colorado south to San Luis Potosi and Veracruz, through most of Texas, with a disjunct population in eastern Utah and western Colorado. Not found in Canada.

Biology

Sources

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

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

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

    Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology