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Project Noah Nature School
Coluber constrictor
Racers are non-venomous but can be very aggressive. Adult racers are solid black on top with the bottom side ranging from white to black. One distinct characteristic is the chin, which is always whitish in color. They are long and slender, usually ranging between two to five feet (roughly 60 to 150 cm) in length but they can reach up to six feet (180 cm). The young racers are in fact, not black but range from tan to grey colored with reddish brown blotches and can easily be mistaken for a rat snake. Another distinct characteristic of racers is that they have rather large eyes compared to other snakes.
Black racers are common in the Southeastern United States, in all its varied habitats. They are active during the day time. They are aggressive and will eat just about any animal they can catch, including other racers. When they feel threatened they may try to flee but a lot of time they will stand their ground and, although non-venomous, they will bite. They tend to whip their tails and, really, it seems like their whole bodies, in an attempt to scare off any potential threat. They move very fast, which is how they got their name. So to be fair, they have earned their common name but their scientific name, I think, is misleading because they do not constrict their prey like "constrictors" do. They overpower their prey and eat them alive. I believe (aside from humans) their biggest threat is predatory birds, especially hawks.
Here is another reference link: http://www.outdooralabama.com/black-race... The first photo I uploaded is blurry but the white chin, which is one of the main keys to identifying this snake, really stands out. I hope these photos are not too graphic for anyone...there was commotion outside and I already thought I had seen a snake out of the corner of my eye just minutes before. When we went to check it out it turned out to be a black racer and a green snake fighting and it was obvious who was going to win. I normally do not interfere with nature but my mom was also trying to get pictures and was having a hard time and she asked me if I could lift it up and so I grabbed a rake or something and went to scoop it up. It spit the green snake out (I believe it had already swallowed the green snake about halfway down) and got feisty with us instead! Living in South Alabama, I've seen lots of these snakes, and I've had them shake their tail at me and poise to strike but I never saw one freak out like this one did. And I have to admit...I felt a bit intimidated. The whole while it was whipping its body around it was also steady moving back away from us and then it took off and was gone in a blink. It went under our trailer and even then, after it "got away" from us, I could hear it whipping around some more under the trailer. That snake was angry! I'm going to upload some images of the green snake next as a separate spotting.
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