• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Herping for rat snakes in NY,PA

D

diamondback1

New member
Joined
Aug 25, 2003
Messages
202
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
53
Location
New England
Does anyone have any advice for finding rat snakes in CT, southern NY, or Northeast PA? As a general rule I do not keep any herps I find but i'm in need of an adult female black rat for a breeding project and just cant find any dark enough online. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks
 
Last edited:
My advice would be to collect any wild snakes legaly. In New York that requires at least a hunting license for snakes. Of course the regulations refer to a permit, but when you check with the DEC you will find that they liely only require a hunting license. This of course requires you to either take a hunter safety course (about 2 to 3 days long) or already have a license elsewhere. New York's Department of Environmental Conservation can be found at this linkNY/DEC . The NY Dec has a pretty good reptile atlas of the state atNY State Reptile & Amphibian Atlas Project that may be of some help to you. Black Rat Snakes have a fairly limited range in NY.
 
After you ensure you legality as above, look in old barns and other outbuildings, up in the rafters, during the hottest part of the day. They seem to like slinking around up there after the starlings and pigeons. I've always found more rat snakes closer to "humanized" areas than out in deeper woods. Chicken farms are a great place as well.
 
Thank you for the info. I do have a hunting license in NY. The barn part seems to be harder though. Nobody seems to ever want to give permission to herp.
 
i've heard tell that BlackRat's are found from around Honeoye N.Y. south through Pennsyltucky and beyond.

i did not know about having to have a liscense for capturing a BlackRat, good info i will ask around! :)

thanx --- Derek.
 
I thought PA had a load of ratsnakes? PA is older, as far as states and colinization goes, so you shouldn't be hard pressed to find some abandoned barns and whatnot, where permission isnt a problem at all, because nobody is there!
Good luck looking for a female anyhow.
 
Just a note on Ct. since you mentioned it. The Black Rat is a state regulated snake here. Even as a state NWCO I have to be careful regarding them. I do get calls for them in and around houses,garages,cellars and barns. We have Beautiful ones, one of my favorite snakes.
 
Back
Top