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Black Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta)

Black Rat Snake

(Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta)

Description:

• 100 - 200 cm, Ontario's largest snake
• almost entirely black with faint blotching
• throat and lips are whitish
• brighter pattern on younger snakes, fades with ages

Habitat:

• open woodlands, fields, abandoned buildings

Conservation concerns, distribution and status:

• rare and local in southeastern Ontario, and even rarer in southwestern Ontario where it has declined with loss of forest cover

Potential climatic domain map

(218 observations in ONHIC database; 71 observations used in analysis)