My guest fisherman this morning. Each “plank”+one gap is six inches so straightened out, he was close to 4’. He was going to crawl between my feet but when he got within about 6”, I tapped my foot to stop him. He stopped and then kept coming so I poked him gently on the nose with my rod. He still didn’t want to leave so I nudged him with my toe. I know he isn’t poisonous but I didn’t want to scare him and get bit. 😬 When he left, he was in no hurry.

thanks

Nice sized rat snake.

I try to keep a few around the yard to reduce the mice, sparrow & starling populations.

not me.

I didn’t know if people would want to read the whole story in the initial post. I was fishing in a boat house when a guy came down to prep his big ski boat. In a minute, I heard him holler and he was trying to get out of his boat. He had raised the inboard motor cover and the snake was there. It slid down into the motor compartment. He completely freaked out. He was lifting seats and compartment covers jumping back every time. He used a metal rod to slowly lift things up. He was really worried about it. He started the motor to see if it came out when it heated up…nothing. I told him it would probably leave when it quieted down. Sure enough, about 30 minutes after he left, it came easing out from under the cover and came onto the boat house deck on a deck line. I saw him a few minutes ago and showed him the pics. He was fixing to go down and start tearing his boat apart. 😂

Texas rat snakes can be very friendly. If you mess with them you can find their demeanor very quickly.

He looks hungry ... you should have fed him.

Yep, you never know what their disposition is going to be. One day they'll practically crawl in your lap, the next they're kinking up and shaking their tail trying to "rattle" some dry leaves.

I used to live off a dirt road close to Whitesboro. One day I was leaving the house and there was a big (~6’) rat snake in the road. If I left him there, he’d have gotten run over. As soon as I opened the truck door, my wife was saying “leave that snake alone!”. I kept nudging his tail with my toe but he didn’t really want to move. I nudged him up closer to his head and he struck at me. He caught the leg of my jeans in his teeth. Instinct took over and I’m dancing around in the middle of the road with a snake stuck to my leg. He finally got loose and when I got in the truck, I told my wife “don’t even say it”. 😂

I'm not a snake person...

But they are so cute.

They don't eat much

Yeah, I’m not touching that one! Danger Will Robinson!

Nope Rope!