He was about 5 feet long, when I picked him up he got pretty squirmy and bit me so he was obviously stressed so after I got some photos of the head I left him be. Afterwords he just crept around like nothing had happened.

The individual was taking advantage of the scarabs, which were drawn by the light laminating it in the picture. It is currently the coolest reptile I have ever had the pleasure of encountering in the wild.

Juvenile ratsnake found in basement of house and released outside. Rat snake taxonomy has undergone recent revision. I am using Pantherophis rather than the older Elaphe. The University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources both still list ratsnakes in South Carolina as Pantherophis obsoleta, but recent DNA analysis has split this into three species based on geography and minor physical characteristics. The location of this snake appears to be in a zone of uncertainty where it could be either Pantherophis alleghaniensis or Pantherophis spiloides.