rat snake

or rat·snake (răt′snāk′)n. Any of several nonvenomous snakes of the genus Elaphe that eat rats and other rodents.

rat snake

n (Animals) any of various nonvenomous rodent-eating colubrid snakes, such as Elaphe obsoleta of North America and Ptyas mucosus of Asia

rat′ snake`

n. any of several harmless New and Old World snakes, of the genus Elaphe, that feed chiefly on small mammals and birds. Also called chicken snake. [1855–60]

Thesaurus

Noun

rat snake - any of various nonvenomous rodent-eating snakes of North America and Asiacolubrid, colubrid snake - mostly harmless temperate-to-tropical terrestrial or arboreal or aquatic snakescorn snake, Elaphe guttata, red rat snake - large harmless snake of southeastern United States; often on farmsblack rat snake, blacksnake, Elaphe obsoleta, mountain blacksnake, pilot blacksnake - large harmless shiny black North American snakechicken snake - large North American snakeIndian rat snake, Ptyas mucosus - enter buildings in pursuit of prey

rat snake

rat snake:

see black snakeblack snake,
name for several snakes, not all closely related, that are black in color. In the United States the name is applied chiefly to the black racer and to the black rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta), both partly arboreal in their habits.
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Rat Snake

(Spilotes pullatus), a snake of the family Colubridae. Length, up to 3.6 m. It has bright yellow transverse stripes on a dark blue background. Distributed from southern Mexico through Central and South America to Argentina, the rat snake inhabits humid forests, thickets, mangrove thickets, and marshes. It can swim and climb trees. It feeds on reptiles, small mammals, and birds; it often crawls into settlements and attacks baby chicks, hence its other common name, chicken snake.

rat snake

Related to rat snake: black rat snake

noun

Words related to rat snake

noun any of various nonvenomous rodent-eating snakes of North America and Asia

Related Words

colubrid
colubrid snake
corn snake
Elaphe guttata
red rat snake
black rat snake
blacksnake
Elaphe obsoleta
mountain blacksnake
pilot blacksnake
chicken snake
Indian rat snake
Ptyas mucosus