The Japanese rat snake (''Elaphe climacophora'') is a medium-sized

colubrid Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from , 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest fossil species of the family date back to the Late Eocene epoch, with earlier origins suspected. Colu ...

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

found throughout the

Japanese archipelago The is an archipelago of list of islands of Japan, 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China Sea, East China and Philippine Sea, Philippine seas in the southwest al ...

(except the far South West) as well as on the Russian-administered Kunashir Island. In Japanese it is known as the ''aodaishō'' or "blue general". It is non-venomous. It is hunted by

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

s and tanukis. The snakes brumate for three to four months, mate in spring and lay 7–20 eggs in early summer.

Description

Adults reach one to two meters in length and about five centimeters in girth. ''E. climacophora'' is the largest Japanese snake outside Okinawa. They are variable in color, ranging from pale yellow-green to dark blue-green. Juveniles have brown-stripe pattern that may be

mimesis Mimesis (; , ''mīmēsis'') is a term used in literary criticism and philosophy that carries a wide range of meanings, including '' imitatio'', imitation, similarity, receptivity, representation, mimicry, the act of expression, the act of ...

of the venomous mamushi. An albino form is known, with specimens especially numerous near

Iwakuni file:20100724 Iwakuni 5235.jpg, 270px, Kintai Bridge file:Iwakuni city center area Aerial photograph.2008.jpg, 270px, Iwakuni city center is a Cities of Japan, city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of ...

, where they are called "Iwakuni white snakes" and revered as messengers of deities and deity-guardians of mountains and rivers. The albino population was protected in 1924 as a "national monument."

Feeding

Japanese rat snakes eat a variety of small animals: rodents, frogs, lizards, shrews, or flies. They are good at climbing and often raid bird nests. They were favoured by farmers as effective rat control, though unpopular with chicken rearers.

Hybrids

In the German reptile zoo Exotarium Oberhof ''Elaphe climacophora'' mated with '' Elaphe schrenckii'' to produce fertile hybrids. Offspring look very much like '' Elaphe taeniura''.

References

Ratsnakes.com
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2562020 Elaphe Snakes of Asia Snakes of Japan Reptiles of Russia Reptiles described in 1826 Taxa named by Heinrich Boie