Snake in the attic

How about this! It is a snake skin that Joyce found in our attic. Judging by the size of it, I would say it came from a Ratsnake (Pantherophis sp.). Of course I could not see the color pattern of the snake from its shed skin, but I have seen some large Black Ratsnakes (P. o. obsoletus) around the house. The snake was probably looking for mice in the attic. There are several places in the soffit of our house where mice (and snakes) can clamber up the side of the house and gain entrance to the attic.

We laid the skin out on the driveway to get a rough measure of its size. As you can see it measured about seven feet seven inches.

Here is the head of the snakeskin. Note that the eyes have a membrane over them which is shed with the skin. In fact, one can tell when a snake is about to shed, because their eyes take on a milky look shortly before shedding begins.

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Snake in the attic — 2 Comments

    • Great to hear from you. Joyce was brave; she retrieved it from the attic and passed it to me.