Harmless · Native to the United States

Great Plains rat snake

Pantherophis emoryi (Baird & Girard, 1853)

Also called Emory’s rat snake
Data updated October 2026

Great Plains rat snake coiled among rocks and grass, with dark brown blotches on a gray-tan body
Fig. 1 — Adult among rocks and grass. Dark-edged brown blotches run down a gray to tan back.
Great Plains rat snake coiled on wet dark ground, its head resting on its body
Fig. 2 — The blotches are squarish and edged in darker brown.

At a glance

A medium-sized, gray-and-brown blotched rat snake of the Great Plains. It hides by day and hunts rodents at night. When cornered it may vibrate its tail in dry leaves, sounding like a rattlesnake, but it is harmless.

01

Identification

The Great Plains rat snake is light gray to tan, with 25 to 45 squarish brown blotches edged in black along the back. A dark brown stripe runs between the eyes and back along each side of the head, and a spear-point mark sits on top of the head. The belly is white with a bold black or dark gray checkerboard, and there are dark stripes under the tail. The scales are weakly keeled and the anal plate is divided. Like all rat snakes it has round pupils and no heat-sensing pits.

  1. 01Spear-point head mark. A pointed mark on the crown, plus a dark stripe through each eye.
  2. 02Checkerboard belly. White underside with bold dark squares.
  3. 03Round pupils, no pits. Unlike pit vipers, there is no heat-sensing pit between eye and nostril.

Commonly confused with

Its close relative the corn snake lives farther east and is usually redder. Young western rat snakes are also blotched, but their blotches are longer than wide; on the Great Plains rat snake they run across the back. In Oklahoma it is also often mixed up with the prairie kingsnake, which has smooth scales.

02

Size

01 ft2 ft3 ft4 ft Typical adult · about 36 in (91 cm)

Most adults measure 24 to 36 inches (61–91 cm), and some reach 48 inches (122 cm). The largest known approach 60 inches (153 cm).

03

Range & habitat

Great Plains rat snake coiled on dark soil beside fallen leaves
Fig. 3 — Rocky woodland edges with leaf litter offer daytime cover.

Great Plains rat snakes range from southwestern Illinois and Missouri west to Colorado and eastern New Mexico, and south through Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas into northern Mexico. In Kansas they follow the major river valleys.

They use prairie, open woodland, rocky wooded hillsides, glades, canyons and caves, and they avoid dense forest. Farmyards and abandoned houses are also used. By day they hide under rocks, logs and boards, or in rodent burrows and rock crevices.

State guides: Texas · Oklahoma

04

Diet & predators

Rodents are the main prey, along with bats and small birds. Frogs, lizards, eggs and small snakes are taken now and then. Larger prey is killed by constriction; small prey is swallowed directly.

Feeds on

  • Mice and other rodents
  • Bats
  • Small birds and eggs
  • Lizards and frogs

Preyed on by

  • Hawks and owls
  • Carnivorous mammals
  • Larger snakes, including kingsnakes

05

Behavior & seasons

Great Plains rat snakes are active from late March through October and are mainly nocturnal. They spend the winter in rodent burrows, rock crevices, caves and hollow logs. When threatened, they may vibrate the tail against dry leaves or grass, making a buzz much like a rattlesnake’s. When are snakes active in Texas?

06

Reproduction

Breeding takes place from March through May. Between late May and July, each female lays one clutch of 3 to 37 eggs; in Kansas the average is about thirteen. The eggs hatch in August and September.

07

Conservation

The species is not considered threatened and is found across much of Oklahoma and Kansas. In Missouri it is thought to be relatively uncommon, though its secretive, nocturnal habits may hide how many there are.

Keep reading

Sources

Data updated October 2026 · How we build these pages