Southern Black Racer

Fantástica::

Great spotting by the way! I've yet to meet one of these guys!

Hi Victoria, as the general consensus (including the expert opinion of 2 herpetologists) is that this a black racer, I have gone ahead & updated the ID for you. Usually we would request that you do this yourself but as we are promoting Snake Week at the moment, it is very important to us & the CSC that the information on spottings is correct as otherwise it invalidates their data.

I can also say with 100% certainty that is a black racer.

Cameron is correct, this is just a very large Southern Black Racer. If it were an Indigo Snake it would have several large scales behind the eye.

Racers have been documented up to 60 inches long and can be quite large. And while they will often flee, if they do not feel threatened, they will carry on about their business.

it was way too big to be a racer. this guy was enormous. He didn't move to fast either.

Unfortunately, this is a Southern Black Racer (Coluber constrictor priapus) and not an indigo snakes. Indigo snakes have not ever been officially confirmed in South Carolina but there were unconfirmed sightings but nothing recent (all sightings are pre-1980). You are right though - Indigo Snakes are federally threatened because of habitat destruction and fragmentation.

they are an endangered species unfortunatly. A lot of their habitat is being destroyed.

A lovely spotting of the largest native North American Snake. Can you tell us something about their status in South Carolina?