Snake Rescue; can anyone ID this?

[d_virginiana]

As I was driving to go do research this morning, I was met by my very panicked grandmother who wanted me to remove a snake from her yard. It had eaten all the bluebirds from a nest in her garden and wasn't going anywhere. Due to being harassed by a person with a garden hoe (not trying to kill it, just trying to persuade it to go somewhere else) and three of my neighbors' maniac chihuahuas it was none too happy to be picked up and taken to the woods. I'm surprised I managed to avoid getting bitten or musked on, but it was pretty calm.
In the midst of all this craziness, I got a couple of pics of it, and was wondering if anyone on here could tell me what species this is? I've always just called them 'blacksnakes' but there are several different snakes we call 'blacksnakes' around here
Anyway, here are a couple of pics of it:

[infernalis]

Common black rat snake. Nice find.

[Sonya610]

Bluebirds? Sheesh I thought they were extinct! Just googled and realize they are making a comeback.

[d_virginiana]

Thanks! I see this snake several times a week, and didn't really know what it was.. My field-identification skills only go as far as 'snakes I can touch' and 'snakes I should not touch'.

Bluebirds? Sheesh I thought they were extinct! Just googled and realize they are making a comeback.

... The comeback is now three bluebirds short I really had no clue they were even in trouble, we've always had so many around here!

[RedSidedSPR]

we've always had so many around here!

Me too... no idea they were endangered...

[ConcinusMan]

Bluebirds? Sheesh I thought they were extinct! Just googled and realize they are making a comeback.

Where on earth did you hear that? They were never even endangered. For a while they were declining fast enough to be a concern, but never got to the point of being endangered/extinct. I know he was probably talking about an eastern bluebird nest but I see western bluebirds here a lot in the summer, in the right habitats. There's tons of them. They don't show up or start nesting until July though.

I'm really surprised that the snake was even able to eat the babies being how they nest in boxes/cavities and so the parents will usually fight off a snake quite effectively if a snake tries to enter the box.

[d_virginiana]

Where on earth did you hear that? They were never even endangered. For a while they were declining fast enough to be a concern, but never got to the point of being endangered/extinct. I know he was probably talking about an eastern bluebird nest but I see western bluebirds here a lot in the summer, in the right habitats. There's tons of them. They don't show up or start nesting until July though.

I'm really surprised that the snake was even able to eat the babies being how they nest in boxes/cavities and so the parents will usually fight off a snake quite effectively if a snake tries to enter the box.

Yes, they were eastern bluebirds. They usually start nesting a bit earlier in the summer around here.
My grandparents found it crawling out of the birdhouse in the middle of the garden that had had three bluebird babies in it the day before, and he had definitely JUST eaten. The pics really don't do justice to how big this snake was though; he could barely get in and out of the house. If he had his mind set on getting in, I don't think there was anything the parents could have done.

[guidofatherof5]

Nice save.
Good looking snake.

[RedSidedSPR]

Black rat snake. Nice find,

I found one yesterday easily 6 feet, very unhappy. I barely escaped with my life!!

[RedSidedSPR]

No idea, never heard it either.

well, rat snakes are good at that stuff.. they'll go into bird houses, sit on the babies and eat 'em.