Pantherophis bairdi

P. bairdi is found in the United States in the Big Bend region of western Texas, as well as in northern Mexico in the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas. It is known to be elusive and hard to find in the wild.^[3]

P. bairdi prefers semi-arid, rocky habitats.^[1]

The specific name, bairdi, as well as several of the common names, are in honor of American zoologist Spencer Fullerton Baird.^[5]

Common names include: Baird's rat snake, Baird's ratsnake,^[4] Baird's pilot snake,^[6] Baird's Coluber, and Great Bend rat snake.^[6]

Adults of P. bairdi may reach 64 to 140 cm (25 to 55 in) in total length (including tail). The dorsal color pattern consists of an orange-yellow to bright yellow, or a darker salmon ground color, overlaid with four stripes that run from the neck to the tail. The belly is generally gray to yellow, darkening near the tail.^{[citation needed]}

The primary diet of P. bairdi consists of rodents, although it will also prey on birds.^{[citation needed]} Juveniles often eat lizards.^{[citation needed]}

Baird's rat snake is typically more pleasantly tempered than other rat snake species.^{[citation needed]}

P. bairdi is oviparous.^[3] Adult females may lay a clutch of up to 10 eggs that take about 3 months to hatch.^{[citation needed]}

P. bairdi has sometimes been considered a subspecies of P. obsoletus, to which it is closely related. P. bairdi was for a long time placed in the genus Elaphe, but phylogenetic analyses by Utiger et al. in 2002 resulted in its transfer to the genus Pantherophis.^[7][8][9]