oh, the irony

[flakgunner]

hey,no!it's a Ratsnake!sometimes you just won't know ,until it grows up and changes color,I'am leaning more towards BlackRat,I believe Gray rats live a little farther west and south of you.

so far I found this.

Rat Snake

Joe

[Thamnophis]

The Western Foxsnake and the Eastern Foxsnake are two different species since some years.

Western Fox Snake = Pantherophis vulpinus
Eastern Fox Snake = Pantherophis gloydi

So you will create hybrids when you breed with east x west.

[flakgunner]

hey,

almost sure it's a young Black rat,I know by the coloring,its not a red rat,or yellow rat your to far north,same with Gray Rats,I can't think of any other Ratsnakes that may live in your area.

Rat Snake

they do okay in captivity ,if you acquire one young enough,and yours qualifies in that,we caught these in S.Illinois,full grown wild caught are a bit grumpy!!last show I went to some guy was selling 2 ft.ers but i went with another Yellow Rat instead,I tried to make him a package deal,but he wasn't ready for that yet,that may change at the next months show,because he also had a 4 ft. Gray Rat i was interested in,and with winter setting in,he'll need to move them fast,or spend more $ on feeding them himself,and the normal Ratsnakes aren't fast seller ether,everyone these days wants dam designer color's.another seller had a Florida Keys Ratsnake,Oh!I should have bought it!

Joe

[KITKAT]

I still vote for eastern milk snake. Wait and see...

[GarterGuy]

Yeh, I'd have to get on the Ratsnake wagon.....I'd have to guess Pantherophis obsoleta obsoleta or Eastern Ratsnake (formerly Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta or Black Ratsnake)....from the colour I'd have to go with P.obsoleta and from the region it was found P.o.obsoleta. You find a lot of babies this time of year. They're all out spreading around after hatching a month or so ago.

Roy