 Great Plains rat snakes prefer open grassland or lightly forested habitats, but are also found on coastal plains, semi-arid regions, as well as rocky, moderately mountainous regions.They can often be found on farmland, which often leads it to be erroneously called the chicken snake, and other areas with a relatively high rodent population, which is their primary diet.They will also eat birds, and occasionally snakes, lizards and frogs, all of which they subdue by constriction.