Southern Black Racer

Description:

This is a juvenile, so the pattern hasn't faded to charcoal yet. Juvenile racers can be IDed from juvie rat snakes by observing that there is no band that goes through the eyes and across the nose. Also, the pattern is smaller dark brown or chestnut patches instead of charcoal or black blotches. It is hard to ID juvie black racers from juvie yellow-bellied racers, but in this case the location helps to ID which sub-species it is. Found when I worked on the Mofep Project.

Habitat:

Missouri Ozarks, found in the leaf litter.

Notes:

In MO the priapus sub-species is found in the southeastern part of the state. See Johnson's Amphbians and Reptiles of Missouri for more info. The MDC website doesnt have a good page on them, so I've used the FLMNH's page as a reference here.