Prairie Kingsnake vs. Central Ratsnake

An adult Central Ratsnake is black, but the young are grey with dark blotches and often mistaken for a Prairie Kingsnake. The Prairie Kingsnake has many small reddish-brown blotches edged in black on a tan or brown ground, smooth glossy scales, and a yellowish belly with brown checks. A young Ratsnake has larger dull grey-brown blotches with no black edging, weakly keeled scales, a white belly with dark checks, and a dark bar across the head in front of the eyes.

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

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