As I was de-leafing my pool today (live oak leaf drop season) I spotted
a 12" rat snake taking a swim. It was a bit small to get out of the pool
so I gave it a hand.

It is a type I've seen around before and I am happy with it's ability to
keep the mice & rats at bay. The rats used to clear out my bird feeder
in a couple of days and the mice made a nice apartment complex of my shed.

I had thought it was the birds emptying the feeder but one night I went
out with a flashlight into my shed and when I turned around the light
shown on my feeder with two giant rats eating away. They were so large
it was intimidating.

Since the snakes started showing up a couple of years ago the evidence
of rats and mice has pretty much gone away.