So glad that Hissy has found a good temporary home. I've always loved snakes and have had them as pets since I was a child. Later, when I was in grad school and living in an apartment just off campus, my much younger brother brought a rat snake home from scout camp. Unfortunately, my father, who was terrified of snakes, announced that either the snake went or he would go, so naturally I took him off my brother's hands and installed him in a nice herpetarium in my apartment (at which point I discovered just who my friends were and weren't!) Kaa (as I named him, from Kipling of course) stayed with me until I had to move to another location, at which point I found a new home for him.I would love to have a snake pet again, but now I'm in a New York City apartment and haven't the room it would need. I'm hoping that Hissy will find a wonderful new home. Thanks to you for being so kind in rescuing him even though you weren't familiar with snakes!

Wayne...up to now the wisdom from my other pals was it's a Juvenile Rat snake...it does look more like a racer....interesting...I saw an adult in the same area last fall....and man...she was BOOKING....I had my camera with me and I couldn;t even get a pic....and just like that she dissappeared....couldn't find her anywhere...looked by every small shrub etc... hbwright...I started using the lasagna method with newspapers...in this case, I had some cardboard, and I weighted it down, but never got to mulching it, as it was in an area thats a Work In Process......perhaps some discreetely laid cardboard would attract some vole eating machines....I've had adult racers and corn snakes as well...but I'm yet to see the dreaded "lasagna snake"!!!

That picture is good enough for a definitive identification. Your snake is a juvenile black rat snake or juvenile gray rat snake. Oak snake is the common local name for gray rat snakes. Juvenile black rat snakes and gray rat snakes both look like gray rat snakes and the gray rat snake maintains its pattern throughout its life while black rat snakes lose their distinctive patterning and become all black with a white underside as they age and get larger. Given your location in northeast Georgia it is more likely to be a juvenile black rat snake or an intergrade between the black and gray rat snake. In any rate it is most definitely a rat snake. They are harmless.

That's the one I thought, due to range, but the lack of a solid black head kept me from being sure. I reckon there's some variation in coloring, most likely? Sweet little snakes, aren't they? Of course, my favorite small snake is the rough green snake. They are such a lovely color, and very passive little guys, usually. And they have bright orange tongues, which really look pretty with their coloring. I've never seen one longer than about 2 feet, and usually much smaller, though my books says they can reach 45" or so. I like their pretty faces! Actually, it has been some years since I've seen one of these. I don't know if they are disappearing or not. Will have to look into that, or maybe Wayne knows, if he isn't tired of our snakey posts yet! Kate, is your crowned snake alive in the pics? Can't quite tell. Hope so! Marcia