Eastern Ratsnake vs. Central Ratsnake

Range is the way to tell these two apart: split in 2021, they are the same snake in shape and habits and cross where they meet. In Virginia the Eastern lives only below the Fall Line in the southeast; the Central lives across the rest of the state. A: The Atlantic and Gulf coastal plain, southeastern Virginia to Florida; in Virginia only below the Fall Line (Tidewater and the Dismal Swamp) in the Eastern Ratsnake; the Appalachians west to the Mississippi; in Virginia statewide, and the only ratsnake west of the Fall Line in the Central Ratsnake. B: Further south often yellow, orange or tan with four bold dark stripes (the old 'Yellow Ratsnake') in the Eastern Ratsnake; never yellow with stripes: black, or grey with dark blotches in the Central Ratsnake. C: Black or dark grey, often with traces of four dark stripes along the body in the Eastern Ratsnake; plain shiny black, no trace of stripes in the Central Ratsnake. Young of both are grey with dark blotches and look the same.

Photographs via iNaturalist under Creative Commons licences; the photographers are credited on the sheet.

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