HARMLESS. The Great Plains Ratsnake is characterized by weakly keeled scales, a divided anal scale, a pattern of 25 -45 squarish brown blotches on its grayish back, and a checkerboard pattern of white and black or dark gray markings on its belly. Adult males have longer tails than females.
The young resemble adults and are similar in appearance to young Western Ratsnakes. The blotches on the back of the Great Plains Ratsnake are transverse, whereas the blotches on the Western Ratsnake are longitudinal.
Adults normally 61.0-122.0 cm (24-48 inches) in total length. The largest specimen from Kansas is a male (KU 192376) from Lyon County with a total length of 134.3 cm (525⁄8 inches) collected by H. A. Stephens on 15 May 1982. The maximum length throughout the range is 153 cm (60¼ inches) (Powell et al., 2016).
This species occurs throughout most of Kansas, following the Arkansas, Smoky Hill, Solomon, Saline, Cimarron, and Republican rivers. It appears to be absent of much of the rest of the High Plains, the formerly glaciated regions north of the Kansas River and east of the Flint Hills, the Wellington Lowlands, and the lower Neosho River basin. There is an isolated population along the Bear Creek drainage in Stanton County, which is further supported by specimens in adjacent Colorado.
Great Plains Ratsnakes roam rocky hillsides and canyons and frequently inhabit caves in western Kansas. In eastern Kansas, they choose similar habitat in open woods or along woodland edge, avoiding heavily forested regions. This snake is active from March to September.
Great Plains Ratsnakes are primarily nocturnal, prowling for food. During the day, they remain hidden beneath rocks or in caves and crevices. Nothing is known of their home range or population density in Kansas. Heinrich and Kaufman (1985) observed 34 of these reptiles between 26 April and 26 September on the Konza Prairie near Manhattan; eleven had been killed by a controlled prairie fire on 26 April.
Using examples of the Great Plains Ratsnake from Kansas and Oklahoma, Gillingham (1979) described a three-phase courtship: the male chased the female ; then, jerking and writhing, he aligned his body with hers, and finally they copulated for 15 to 30 minutes. Number of eggs per clutch in this species probably ranges from three to thirty (Fitch, 1985), with an average of thirteen. Clark (1953) recorded two Kansas clutches of four and five eggs laid by this snake in early July. Mating probably occurs during spring, after emergence from winter inactivity.
This species constricts its prey and feeds primarily on small rodents and birds. Burt and Hoyle (1935) reported a specimen from a gypsum cave in Comanche County that was discovered hanging from slight irregularities on the roof.
Predators of the Great Plains Ratsnake include hawks, owls, mammals, and larger snakes.
First reported from Kansas by Cope (1875) based on a specimen (no specific locality) in the collection at the United States National Museum. The earliest existing specimens (KU 2426-8) from Kansas were collected from Trego County in July of 1910. However, MCZ R5419 certainly predate KU 2426-8. They were received and cataloged in a lot of eight numbers from Francis W. Cragin collected near Manhattan and did not have a collected or received date associated with them. Other specimens cataloged just prior and after Cragin's series were dated 1879 to 1881.
USNM 2259 (collected at Hyatt, Anderson County by Samuel Arnyi) was published (p. 166) in Cochran (1961) as a paratype of Coluber rhinomegas Cope (a junior synonym of Pantherophis emoryi).
Noteworthy records (2 juvenile specimens) were collected in Stanton County (Taggart, 2006), and corroborate adjacent specimens in Colorado (Hammerson, 2001).
The epithet emoryi is in honor of Brigadier General William Hemsley Emory, who was chief surveyor of the U.S. Boundary Survey team of 1852 and collected specimens for the Smithsonian Institution. As such, it is sometimes referred to as Emory's Ratsnake.
When agitated, the Great Plains Ratsnake will shake its tail vigorously, which by itself makes no noise, but when it shakes among dry leaf litter, it can sound remarkably like a rattlesnake, and often leads to misidentification.
Burt (1935) reported on a den containing over a dozen of these snakes (young to adult) located on March 29, 1934, in a ravine 6 miles east of Winfield, Kansas, discovered on a warm day following a cold period. The den was at the base of a south slope in a clump of oak trees above a small stream. A perennial spring was situated nearby and much rock was in evidence. At one point a vertical rock was scaled to a height of about four feet and many snakes were revealed, including young Coluber constrictor and some adults of Diadophis punctatus in addition to Pantherophis emoryi.
Based on a captive specimen, Snider and Bowler (1992) reported a maximum longevity for this species of 21 years, one month, and 25 days.
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Taggart, Travis W. 2003. KHS conducts first systematic road survey. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (6):11-12.
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Taggart, Travis W., Joseph T. Collins, and Curtis J. Schmidt. 2007. Estimates of amphibian, reptile, and turtle mortality if Phostoxin is applied to 10,000 acres of prairie dog burrows in Logan County, Kansas. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Pratt. 5 pp.
Taggart, Travis W. 2008. KHS 2008 spring field trip. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (25):2-3.
Klug, Page E. 2009. Interactions between grassland birds and their snake predators: The potential for conservation conflicts in the tallgrass praire. Dissertation. Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas. 139 pp.
Murrow, Daniel G. 2009. KHS 2009 spring field trip. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (29):42769.
Collins, Joseph T., Suzanne L. Collins, and Travis W. Taggart. 2010. Amphibians, Reptiles, and Turtles of Kansas. Eagle Mountain Publishing., Provo, Utah. 400 pp.
Murrow, Daniel G. 2010. Kansas Herpetological Society spring field trip. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (33):2-3.
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Taggart, Travis W. 2011. Kansas Herpetological Society 2011 spring field trip to be held in Chautauqua County. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (37):5-7.
Houck, Mike. 2011. Fort Riley Herpetofaunal Survey for 2011. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (39):9.
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Rohweder, Megan R. 2012. Spatial conservation prioritization of Kansas for terrestrial vertebrates. Thesis. Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas. 151 pp.
Powell, Robert, Joseph T Collins, and Errol D Hooper Jr. 2012. Key to the Herpetofauna of the Continental United States and Canada: Second Edition, Revised and Updated. Univ Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 152 pp.
Sinclair, Tom. 2013. A four-day spring snake count across northern Kansas. Collinsorum 2(1/2):9.
Baldwin, Mary Kate. 2013. “Herps in Havensville” Herp Surveys. Collinsorum 2(3/4):10.
Taggart, Travis W. 2013. KHS 2012 Spring Field Trip to Bourbon County State Lake. Collinsorum 2(3/4):3.
Taggart, Travis W. 2013. KHS 2013 Summer Field Trip to Coldwater Lake, Comanche County. Collinsorum 2(3/4):5.
Taggart, Travis W. 2014. Results of the 2014 KHS Spring Field Trip to Barber County. Collinsorum 3(2-4):11.
Taggart, Travis W. 2014. Recent scientific and standard English name changes effecting the Kansas herpetofauna. Collinsorum 3(2-4):9-10.
Houck, Mike. 2015. 2015 Fort Riley Herpetofaunal Count final report. Collinsorum 4(1):10-11.
Taggart, Travis W. 2015. Spring Field Trip to the Greenhorn Limestone of Russell County. Collinsorum 4(3):2.
Taggart, Travis W. 2015. Fall Field Trip Held In Washington County. Collinsorum 4(3):4.
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