Northern Black Racer

tell me about it,i turned and looked,saw snake ratteling its tail,boy i jumped about 5 feet backwards,and he missed the strike

It can be a little nerve wracking if you've never seen it before.

thanks,but it was the first time i had a snake do that other then a ratteler

yeah, that is a very common behavior in many of the species I've encountered, particularly when they feel threatened. I've seen several different subspecies of racer do it

thanks mitch,would you know if its common for them to rattle there tail like a rattelsnake,couse this one did,or i would have got bite

That looks more like a racer than a rat snake.