Spilotes pullatus
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Spilotes pullatus, commonly known as the chicken snake, tropical chicken snake, yellow rat snake, or tiger rat snake is a species of large nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to the Neotropics. Including the nominotypical subspecies, the following five subspecies are recognized:
Adults may attain a maximum total length of 2.7 m (8.9 ft), with the average length ranging from 1.5 to 2 m (4.9 to 6.6 ft). 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... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Main Ridge Forest Reserve | 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 3 | Chapada Diamantina National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Bastimentos Island National Marine Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 7 | Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 9 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | Manuel Antonio National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 12 | Calakmul Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 13 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 14 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 15 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 16 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland Metroparks Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Zoo Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Cape May County Park & Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | São Paulo Zoo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Woodland Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Fort Worth Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Rio de Janeiro Zoological Garden | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Parque Ecológico de São Carlos | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | La Paz Waterfall Gardens | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Bioparque Los Ocarros | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 11 | Croco Cun Zoo | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 12 | Vancouver Aquarium | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 13 | Entopia | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 14 | Seattle Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Monteverde Theme Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 16 | Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 17 | Seattle Marine Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | Zoológico Miguél Álvarez del Toro | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Chicken Snake sighting in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 13th most-seen of the 23 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Chicken Snake in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in January, March, May–June and August, the lowest months. That is one of Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve's wettest months, with about 160 mm of rain against 30 mm in March.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Chicken Snake sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 16
Of the 16 parks where we can rate Chicken Snake sightings, Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Iguazú National Park (Argentina, about 20%), Main Ridge Forest Reserve (Trinidad and Tobago, about 20%) and Chapada Diamantina National Park (Brazil, about 20%).
Same family: Colubridae
The closest relatives of the Chicken Snake that you can see in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (family Colubridae, Colubrid Snakes) are Mexican Parrot Snake (about 20%), Gulf Coast Vine Snake (about 10%) and Dryad Snake (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Chicken Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (8 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
