First of all, I live and let live. I make an exception if something is in my yard that will hurt my family. We have about 6 acres of land and if a snake is no threat then it is left alone. If it is poisonous and is within 30 feet of our house I then take care of it. I do not want my children to be bitten by a poisonous snake. We have numerous copperheads near our house. I do kill those. The black rat snake mimicked a rattler. It raised and shook it's tail and rustled the leaves making a rattler sound. I thought it was a rattler til I did a search and found out rattlers are not black. I then researched and discovered that a black rat snake mimics a rattler when threatened. Now that I now he is not a threat, we will coexist. I have numerous bluebirds that have their own nests in the bushes. ( no man made house) I am sad to say the snake has probably eaten their eggs. While I am sad he is probably eating my favorite birds, I have no issue with him unless he tries to bite one of us.

Just as a precaution, again let me say that yellow rat snakes DO bite when cornered. While they tame down really nicely (and quickly) in captivity, adult rat snakes do NOT want to be caught or cornered and will bite if threatened. Especially the larger ones, and they get VERY large. Over 8 feet in length, making them about the 2nd longest non-venomous snake in the U.S. When cornered, the first thing they will do is curl up and vibrate their tails like crazy. If they happen to be in dead leaves or grass, this will make a sound similar to a rattlesnake. They are warning you to leave them alone. If you persist and reach for them, they will strike like crazy, and having been bitten by a large one, I can tell you, it hurts. (Plus it hurts the snake, as well, since their teeth curve backwards into their mouths and often are broken or pulled right out when they bite a person.) Of course, I was only bitten because I picked a big one up incorrectly and it whipped its head around and nailed me. I should have left it alone! The best rule of thumb for MOST of us is to leave them alone. They don't want to bother you, and won't if you don't bother them. Black racers will strike repeatedly and bite, too, if cornered. But it's been my experience that, unlike the rat snake, they don't make nice pets. They don't like captivity and never seem to become docile. (I'm not saying no one has ever had a tame one, of course. This is just as a general rule.) Anyway, your rat snake is patroling your yard, and he is nothing to worry about. He may startle you from time to time, but he won't attack you if you don't try to pick him up or harm him. Nice pic of the black racer, Heather. I have a couple in this yard but no yellow rat snakes, sadly. That I've seen so far, anyway. The black racers are also doing a great job of yard patrol, and they are welcome here, too. Marcia

Great story

Last fall we found a fully grown rat snake in our chicken house (pic 1) You can see how big it is in the second pic after I grabbed it to evict it. It had come in through a couple of holes in the chicken yard fence that have since been closed. I didn't want it in there because I was afraid it might kill one of the hens if they got curious with it. Being constrictors it could easily do it even though my hens are too large to swallow. it now uses a large hole in one my live oaks for home and gives fits to the wild birds if they spy it going up or down that tree!.