Rat Snake-Elaphe obsoleta
Habitat	The rat snakes are found in most any terrestial habitat from pine woods to deciduous forests and even rocky hillsides. They spend much of their time underground in rodent burrows or other tunnels.
Ecological Niche	Rat snakes eat mice, small rats, eggs, and occasionally small birds. Young snakes also eat lizards and frogs, especially treefrogs. Rat snakes are often food for king snakes, hawks and owls.
Life Cycle	Rat snakes usually lay 8 to 20 eggs in loose compost or in a rotting log. The clutch size depends upon the size of the female. The eggs hatch after 6 to 8 weeks. Rat snakes can live up to 25 years or more.
Behavior and physical adaptations	All the rat snakes are excellent climbers. Their belly scales are unusually angled and provide excellent traction for climbing tree bark, rocks, and even the sides of buildings. The rat snake kills it's food by constriction before swallowing it. Their colors and patterns vary widely, and are excellent camouflage in many habitats. In western Georgia, rat snakes are gray. In the north part of the state they are black while around Savannah they are green and in far south Georgia into Florida they are yellow.