Rat snakes are abundant throughout much of South Florida and especially so in Everglades Agricultural Area south of Lake Okeechobee. This area was once part of the vast marshy expanse of the Everglades. However, the fertile muck soil of the region proved perfect for agriculture and in the early to mid 20th century much of the water in the marshes was drained into the ditches and canals that now criss-cross the landscape here. Exotic Australian pines were planted along the canals as windbreaks. Concrete, woods, and tin buildings were built to store agricultural equipment and house the pumps used to control water levels. Sugar cane and sod were planted in the fertile fields.

Though the habitat was highly modified, certain animals species found the new conditions very hospitable. Rodents and rabbits fed on the sugar cane and burrowed into the banks of canals creating and endless matrix of tunnels that provided perfect habitat for snakes. Rodent eating snakes like rat snakes and king snakes gorged on the bountiful food source and took shelter in the burrows.

For the semi-arboreal rat snakes, the Australian pines and pump houses created  additional shelter and hunting spots. In fact, as snake collectors soon learned, rat snakes took shelter in just about any crack or crevice they could find off of the ground. Clever snake hunters could find the snakes in cracks in bridges and railroad trestles, in holes in telephone poles, under the flaked bark of dead Australian pines, in the roofs of and rafters of buildings, and even the engines of pumps and tractors. Additionally, all of the snakes of the region could be found under various artificial cover that littered the road sides and canal banks.

Below: A rat snake found between the tin sheets in the roof of an old building


While this area, simply known as the cane fields by herpers, still has plenty of snakes, in the opinion of many who have frequented the area, the good old days are long gone. Most of the old buildings have been bulldozed. The trees have been cut down. The trash has mostly been picked up. Vegetation on the canal banks is maintained by an all too common herbicide regime.  The snakes are less abundant and less accessible than they were in the past. New calls for Everglades "restoration" will change the area even more and destroy the ideal, if artificial, situation that created a huge "snake farm."

Above: Daniel pulls a rat snake from the roof of an old building on a rainy summer evening