Spilotes pullatus
Spilotes pullatus, commonly known as the chicken snake, tropical chicken snake, or yellow rat snake, is a species of large nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to the Neotropics. Taxonomy Subspecies Including the nominotypical subspecies, the following five subspecies are recognized: S. p. pullatus (Linnaeus, 1758) S. p. anomalepis Bocourt, 1888 S. p. argusiformis Amaral, 1929 S. p. maculatus Amaral, 1929 S. p. mexicanus (Laurenti, 1768) Geographic range It is found in southern Mexico, Central America, northern and central South America, and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. Description Adults may attain a maximum total length of . Dorsally, S. pullatus is black with yellow spots which may form crossbands. The tip of the snout is yellow. The head shields may be mostly yellow, or mostly black, or crossbanded with a combination of yellow and black, but the sutures between the shields are always black. Ventrally, it is yellow with irregular black crossbands. The body is relatively slender and somewhat laterally compressed. The head is distinct from the neck. The eye is moderate in size with a round pupil. There are no suboculars, and the loreal is either very small or absent. There are 6 or 7 upper labials, the 3rd and