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Coluber constrictor
Maybe 2' long, this snake had a light yellow background with red/brown spots. Similar size as racers.
on the Rogue River in Douglas fir & oak forest, quite dry and warm in summer.
Never seen another snake like this one.
No doubt that's why I'd never seen one like this before--they change so much. Thanks for the info.
Coluber constrictor is not the name for the black racer. Coluber constrictor is called the eastern racer, or racer for short. The southern black racer is Coluber constrictor priapus. The northern black racer is Coluber constrictor constrictor. If you want to call it a subspecies, then find out which one is in range and call it that, but there is no need to. I very rarely mess with subspecies so can't help you with which one this is. But you can't go off of a juvenile pattern to try to ID to subspecies level, they look completely different as adults. Would have to do it off of range.
Ashley T, since Coluber constrictor is the name for the black racer, is there a variety name for this one? Since it doesn't have the dark head of the red racer , is it the western yellow-bellied racer (C.c.mormon)? Or some other variety?
Thanks for the help; the fact that the juvenile is so different from the adult makes it difficult. I'd never seen one that looked like that, plus it was found kind of close to California so there's often species there I haven't seen before.
They are really pretty when they are young, unfortunately their pattern fades pretty quickly!
Normal looking juvenile racer. Pattern is fading on the tail, it will completely fade as it becomes an adult.
Perhaps a young Gopher Snake, Pituophis catenifer catenifer. http://slitherbriggs.webs.com/pccatenife...
Spotted on Sep 13, 2008
Submitted on Aug 1, 2015
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