Texas Rat Snakes

Texas rat snakes are among the most aggressive non-venomous serpents in the state. Threatened, most bite readily, though the pressure of the bite is so weak and short-lived that they usually just cause a scratch.

The most common is the brown-mottled occurring in suburban areas in the eastern half of Texas and the only one likely to be found high in trees and in attics. Immediately after they hatch in late summer and early autumn, the brown blotched, grayish young are the most frequently encountered snakes as well as the fact that they are the hottest tempered, typically striking without hesitation when picked up.

Abundant in both types of terrain, they have been seen in coastal swampy areas to pastures, to your attic space. So, they do get around. The prey or the food desire of these snakes are warm blooded: Birds and their hatchlings, rodents and their young and they do posses the ability to constrict the more vigorous prey to enhance their mission of food intake. Egg bearing and the eggs are covered with sticky substance that may cause the entire batch to cluster-like together.

Their young are about 12 to 14 1/2 inches in length and have chocolate like covered lines that extend all the way up to form a marking across the eyes. There are many kind of rat snakes but this one is really the most common.

Another possible invader is water snakes (see snake control). The blotched, broad-banded and green water snakes are the most to invade in structures. Being some of the largest of water snakes, they don't have that much trouble traveling a half a mile or more to hunt their prey. Creeks often run through suburbs and they can easily surf down the street via storm drains. So many homes have rodent problems, and the rodent droppings can be a nutritional support systems for insects, and in turn the geckos have the insects for their food source. Geckos are not far removed from toads and frogs - and guess who likes to chow down on them? You guessed it, the water snake!

These snakes have a good defense mechanism - they excrete a highly offensive order when handled or threatened. We have had customers that have had snake problems say that they have smelled a unusually foul odor (see snake control) and one not really consistent with dead rodent. But, we always find that some types of snakes come to where the rats are, and when we perform a snake control treatment, rodent service and large insect control is usually needed.

In most cases, we offer a one-year warranty with our snake control treatment. The food support control program that comes with the snake treatment is very important to ensure the proper control method and will be maintained for one year as well. Please call us if you have any snake or rodent problems.

Nature King Pest Management

Texas Rat Snakes