I’m reading from the great book Amphibians and Reptiles of Wisconsin published in 2022 by The University of Wisconsin Press and edited by Joshua Kapfer and Donald Brown. It’s a comprehensive reference that covers all of Wisconsin’s frogs, toads, salamanders, skinks, lizards, snakes, and turtles, and it is a delight to read. I’ll read selected parts of the chapter by Richard Sajdak about our grey rat snake. Commonly called the black rat snake, I’ll bet many of us have had encounters with this animal and it has a fascinating life that includes having favored home trees. This is one of the largest snakes we have in Wisconsin. They are calm snakes, and (once I get over the startle response,) they are beautiful! They only occupy a small part of Southwest Wisconsin.
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