Low riskNot food
Eastern ratsnake
Pantherophis alleghaniensis
Black climber. Eats rats and eggs. Harmless, often in barns and rafters.
- Marks
- Black adult; white chin; climbs
- Size
- 4–6 ft
- Habitat
- Woods, barns, rock walls.
- Season
- April–October.
- Frequency
- common
Adults are shiny black with a white chin and a faintly keeled, loaf-shaped body in cross-section. Young are gray with dark blotches (and get called copperheads).
Uses
The best free barn-cat alternative. Keep one if you can stand it.
Lookalikes
Eastern copperhead
Agkistrodon contortrix
The venomous snake you will actually meet in Dearborn County. Chestnut hourglasses on a copper body.
VenomousNot food
Timber rattlesnake
Crotalus horridus
Rare on these ridges now, still possible in rough Ohio River hills. Rattle, chevron bands, black tail.
VenomousNot food