Black racer snake

Racer snake at Ding Darling 

 Black racer snake Coluber constrictor priapus

The black racer snake belongs to the Colubridae family. 

These snakes can grow up to 152cm in length. They have big eyes to help them find prey, straight scales  The adults are a dark black in colour. The young look very different to the adults, they are red in colour.

When racer snakes are ambushed or are approached they flea, 'race' away. They have been known to bite, but they are not venomous.  

They are common in fields, forests and wetlands. They are diurnal and prefer the heat, when the temperatures cool down they go into burrows to keep warm. Their prey are lizards, insects, birds, rodents and amphibians. They tend to spend most of their time on the ground but they are able to climb trees.

They breed and lay the eggs April to May and the eggs hatch in the autumn.  under During the cold winter months, the racer snakes will hibernate in groups under rocks.

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Oplin.org, (2015). Black Racer Fact Page- What's That Snake? - OPLIN. [online] Available at: http://www.oplin.org/snake/fact%20pages/racer_black/racer_black.html [Accessed 8 Apr. 2015].

Srelherp.uga.edu, (2015). Species Profile: Black Racer (Coluber constrictor) | SREL Herpetology. [online] Available at: http://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/colcon.htm [Accessed 8 Apr. 2015].