Saturday 12 June 2021

How about this gray rat snake!

We really like snakes! The gentle gray rat snakes are fascinating. Our girls really like snakes. They've learned about them. We don't have any poisonous ones around here. Water snakes are known for biting, but these gentle creature just roam looking for critters in the trees.


July, 2017

Nearby Murphys Point Park has a display all about rat snakes, and they track them with monitors.

This is from a camping trip and visit the girls made to Murphys Point Park, when they track these endangered snakes.

gray rat snake
The girls are such hams!

This is a series of tweets and videos from Kim, whom I follow on Twitter. She lives here in southeast Ontario. It's hilarious! Her commentary, I mean.  

From Ontario Nature

: The gray ratsnake (Pantherophis spiloides) is the largest snake in Canada and can grow to 2.5 metres in length. Juveniles are distinctly blotched, but older individuals become increasingly black with only faint patterning. The belly is whitish with black checkerboard markings, and the throat is a uniform cream or white.

View an interactive map of the known ranges of gray ratsnakes in Ontario. 


JB went in for footcare, and saw a dead gray rat snake by the side of the road. So sad. This is part of the reason they are endangered. 


For more critters: Saturday's Critters # 391


12 comments:

eileeninmd said...

Hello,
What a nice outing for your grandkids! I am ok to watch snakes from a distance. I do not want to hold one. We saw a big rat snake at the park last week. Looks like a fun day, great photos. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a happy weekend!

Anvilcloud said...

chacun à son goût

Tom said...

...and how about NOT!

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
They look fun - I don't mind snakes, even the venomous ones; which is just well having lived in OZ! I once had a diamond python make its den in my compost heap in Sydney. Just for one season. YAM xx

Shiju Sugunan said...

Great that the girls are comfortable with the snake. I encounter Chequered keel-backs on my birding trips. It creeps me out, even though I know they are non-venomous.

Olga said...

I rarely see snakes but I definitely don't go looking for them!

RedPat said...

I don't mind snakes but I think those two would have freaked me out a bit.

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

How interesting but pardon me if I hurry through the photos! hahaha! I've been berry picking this week and looking for snakes while I pick!

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

We have all sorts of snakes here including different kinds of rat snakes. I have never heard of the gray rat snake though. People are better at live and let live but there are still people who kill every snake they see.

We have several kinds of venomous snakes and so I keep a sharp eye for those. From what I read most people who are bitten are people not leaving the snake alone.

William Kendall said...

Fascinating snakes.

Adam Jones said...

Thankfully we don't have too many snakes in the UK. Not sure what I'd do if I came across one like this.

Kay said...

How wonderful that the girls are being taught not to be afraid of snakes and other animals that are harmless. You've always been an excellent teacher.