Natural History: Coluber constrictor, Black Racer

            It was a warm and sunny day as Cofc’s Thursday’s Herpetology Lab set out in the beautiful forest of Donnelley Wildlife Management Area. There was a nice breeze was blowing to keep everything relatively cool. All semester long, I have wanted to catch a snake. Since this was our last field trip, I was determined to meet my quota. With dip net in hand, there were no more rakes left for me, and waiters dawned I set out to find me a snake. In order to catch a snake, you have to think like a snake. Where do snakes like to hang out? Why, with their food is of course, and this particular area seemed to have lots of good amphibians near the pond. I decided to try searching along the pond shore. At first I camp up with nothing, but then I was moving along when all of a sudden I hear a scuffle and I turn towards to the noise to see a long black tail quickly go down a hole in a log. Success!! I knew instantly to whom that long tail belonged to; I had found me a snake. I called a class mate over and we were able to extract the snake from the log, but it was quick and tried to escape, but me and even more classmates were able to corral him and finally catch him! The snake was a beautiful black racer, Coluber constrictor, a harmless egg-laying snake, it was just over a foot long which is about the normal size for an adult. He, it was later determined by the width of the tail that it was a male, was not at all happy to be captured. He was biting at anything he could so he could escape. In all fairness, I wouldn’t be too happy either at being captured by monstrous beings that had just pulled me out from my hiding spot. This black racer was also extra cranky because he was about to shed, which was easily recognizable due to the clouded over eyes, flakey skin, and overall dull coloring. He also had some minor wounds that were scabbed up and probably from an attacking predator, which showed he was a fighter. After we had captured the snake, we victoriously showed everyone in the class our find and then released him back in the forest to hopefully enjoy the rest of his day undisturbed.

            Coluber constrictor’s are fairly harmless snakes. They have a very weak bite with no venom. They will usually hunt mice, frogs, or toads. These snakes are found in brushy environments and, like their common name states, they are very fast and would rather run away then fight off any potential predators. That being said, these snakes are no weenies, if forced into a conflict they will strike at their opponents with fierce aggression. Black Racers are usually unkeeled and have a divided anal plate. They are black with a little bit of white on their chin and throat. This was a great field trip and I am glad I got to see this awesome snake. 

 Links for Image:

 http://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/pics/colcon210.jpg

Here are some cool pics of that feisty  black racer:

This picture really illustrates those awesom opaque eyes that indicate shedding.

Here we can see him all curled up in a very tense posture, and yet being unusually calm