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A year ago, my sons spotted what appeared to be the black soaker hose slithering around the grape trellis and heading for the vegetable garden. The six-foot black rat snake that they understandably mistook for the hose didn’t stay in the yard for long but its visit was cause for wonder, some anxiety and dozens of questions for weeks to come.
In a Backyard Wildlife Habitat, the first visit by any new animal neighbor is a proclamation that your hard labor has paid off. Mother Nature need not be relegated solely to national parks and wildlife refuges.
In the eastern United States, the black rat snake is generally the largest snake and is also commonly seen. Its eight-foot length is impressive. Its ability to climb trees is always somewhat disconcerting. A sevenfooter ascending an oak gives your yard that aura of Amazonia that even temperatures in the 90s and high humidity cannot duplicate.
Like many large snakes, the black rat is a constrictor, a squeezer of its prey. On farm and in feed lots, its diet includes rats and mice. In suburbia, rabbits, chipmunks and birds power its growth.
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