Black rat snake hibernacula

[woodjin]

I was hiking with my son and stumbled upon a black rat snake hibernacula and/or summer den site. We surprised the first two and they surprised us. They both did the "tail in leaves rattle" which made me immeditely lift my son and retreat a couple yards. then I was able to quickly identify them as black rats. Soon after (within an acre) we came across three more. two of the three were mating and aside of the "tail in the leaves rattle" made no attempt to flee. the 3rd was huge and would allow us to approach within approx. 4' of him before he began to retreat (slowly). I estimated him to be nearly 7' long and I was questioning my reference points because that seemed abnormally huge. I later found out that this is well within their possible length.

It was a great opportunity for my son to see the snakes close up. I've caught them around my house before and showed them to him, but this was in the deep woods. I didn't make any attempt to capture or disturb them as I was unsure about the effects that would have within a denning site.

Sadly, I did not have my camera, but I will return and hopefully get some great footage.

Question for the snake experts here...will my passive presence adversly affect this den site? obviously I will keep the location to myself.

Jeff

 

[Teegate]

Nice! Keep finding them for Jack to see.

Guy

 

[dragoncjo]

Jeff, as long as you aren't handling the snakes often it won't be a problem, black rats are quite as sensitive as say a rattlesnake to human prescence.

 

[bobpbx]

Neat Jeff. What was Jack's reaction? Wide-eyed only?

 

[joc]

Nice find ! The 7 ft is not an anomaly .They go well over 6 , consistently .I know they are present down here, but for some reason , i find about 10 black racers to every black rat . And yes, my best "finds " always occur w/ no camera ! Black rats seem to be more common in PA , No NJ , So NY . Just my opinion.Thanks for sharing.

 

[woodjin]

Neat Jeff. What was Jack's reaction? Wide-eyed only?

To my surprise he was unexcited with the first two. But I've brought snakes I caught around the house to him before so he probably thought is was old news. When we came across the other three, and I carried him right up to them he did get excited and thought it was neat.

Jeff

 

[woodjin]

Nice find ! The 7 ft is not an anomaly .They go well over 6 , consistently .I know they are present down here, but for some reason , i find about 10 black racers to every black rat . And yes, my best "finds " always occur w/ no camera ! Black rats seem to be more common in PA , No NJ , So NY . Just my opinion.Thanks for sharing.

That is interesting because I tend to see black rats far more often than racers. I used to see a lot of racers when I was growing up in momouth county. The distance between Wall and Tabernacle could account for this. When I lived in momouth county it was in a farming district. We used to see racers all the time, but there was one spot deep in the woods (by momouth county standards) that had a bunch of large black rat snakes. Seems like they were always hanging out up in the trees.

Jeff

 

[joc]

Hi Jeff , I have yet to see a black rat in Monmouth county .I don't know many people who have .The habitat is perfect . I moved here 10 yrs ago and have yet to see one .You are right , i probably do not search the trees as often as i should . I have found racers 10 ft from rt 33 !! Not to get off on a tangent , but the racer is cannabilistic and probably effects other snake species populations ( i could be wrong ) .Kings and hognose which were once common seem to have declined substantially .Thanks again for sharing .
Joe