Rat Snake or Copperhead, How To Tell the Difference

Snakes Are Beneficial

Living in balance with nature can offer some challenges. Here, we try to not kill snakes unless they are a threat to us or our livestock. Snakes are a great help in dealing with rats and mice, and they have provided the material for many of our homeschool lessons!
Often people kill snakes for no real reason except ignorance and fear. This is not good because snakes provide a valuable service to the homesteader by keeping small rodents in check. A large black racer lives under our barn and I have not seen a mouse there in awhile. We do try to discourage snakes around the chicken coop because the snakes seem to love eggs as much as we do! Snakes generally get a bit of attention here though, because the kids like to journal the different species they have come across.



It is startling to walk into the chicken coop and come face to face with a large rat snake though, especially since they often look very much like a dangerous copperhead. How does one decide which is which?

Adult Texas Rat Snake 

Rat Snakes, Beneficial Friend

Rat snakes go by many names. In our area they are called Texas Rat Snakes, or Chicken Snakes because they are often found near chicken coops. Normally the rat snake will be dining on the rats and mice that thrive on the grain that is so plentiful in the chicken yard but sometimes they will eat the eggs.
These snakes are proficient climbers. One afternoon I went into the chicken coop intent on cleaning the nesting boxes and came literally face to face with a large, adult rat snake hanging from the low rafters of our small hen house. I backed smoothly away, hoping that the snake would not get startled and bite!
Rat snakes are not poisonous. They will bite when startled or threatened and the bite looks very much like a human bite on the skin. It lacks the two distinct fang marks of a poisonous snake. While it does hurt it is not going to make you sick. Just wash the area carefully with soap and water and watch for signs of infection as you would with any other wound.
Texas Rat Snakes are one of the largest snakes found in my area, often reaching lengths over six feet. The background color of an adult will range from yellow to orange to brown and it has tan or brown blotches on it which makes it look similar to a dangerous copperhead. It will sometimes even rattle it's tail emulating a Rattlesnake! This similarity is good for the snake in some ways because predators naturally shy away from it but around populated areas it will get it killed because people often don't stop to analyze which of the two it is before killing it.
A Rat Snake has round pupils in it's eyes, unlike the elliptical, "cat's eye" pupils of the Copperhead.

Adult Copperhead found near our barn

 

Copperhead Snake, Dangerous Foe

There are several subspecies of Copperheads but the one most easily confused with the beneficial Rat Snake is the Southern Copperhead. These snakes live in partially wooded areas that are near a source of water such as a stock tank or creek. They can be found under debris, decaying leaves, and rotting stumps. On the homestead watch out for them if you are dealing with brush piles or wood piles.
The Southern Copperhead grows to a length of about 36 inches. It's color is a pinkish tan background with darker hourglass blotches across it's back. It is nocturnal in the heat of summer but becomes more active in the daytime as the temperatures cool during the autumn months. This snake is one of the most abundant poisonous snakes in the area. There have been few deaths reported from the bite of a Southern Copperhead but it is important to seek medical care immediately. The bite will have two punctures from the fangs, and in this way can be identified as being a venomous bite.
It also eats rats, mice, and other small rodents but the danger of a bite makes it important to me to keep this species away from the areas that my children are most. If possible we catch the snakes and relocate them, however we will kill them if need be. Keeping areas of brush and trash away from the areas that people will normally be will help as well. Seal up openings in foundations and around pipes so the snakes can not get into the house.
A copperhead will not climb like a rat snake will, so this is another way to tell the difference between the two.

Note the "cat's eye" type pupils of the Copperhead 

Discouraging Snakes

The other day I was writing and my youngest children came running in to tell me there was a snake coiled by the goat barn. I sent my fifteen year old out to investigate and he was sure it was an adult Copperhead, and asked for permission to kill it. I looked at it, but thought it was a Rat Snake and told him to let it go. When I loaded the pictures on the computer he had been correct in his identification and I had been too interested in getting back to my writing!
The best way to discourage snakes from being close to your home is to get rid of habitat and food supply as much as possible. Store wood at least 18 inches off the ground. Keep the rodent population down by use of traps. Other than that there is really no good way to do it so it becomes important to teach your children to be cautious around any snake they see and to move away from it as quickly as they can. Use gloves and boots when working with brush and woodpiles, and be alert for movement. Snakes will normally avoid human contact.
Apparently marigolds are natural detterents for snakes so you might think about planting them around areas that you would like the snakes to stay away from.
 

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