A few weekends ago, some of my friends and I made our way down to the CawCaw Interpretive Center to enjoy the beautiful, sunny day. In our excitement, however, we forgot cameras and had to rely on camera phone to document anything we saw. This was hard because we saw a lot of things, but none wanted to stay still or get close enough for us to take any decent picture with our phones. We saw a green tree frog, Hyla cinerea, green anoles, Anolis carolinesis, skinks, toads, and about a dozen alligators, Alligator mississippiensis. Overall, there was a plethora of herps. After exploring the different types of ecosytems they have at the center, we decided to head out. On our way out, we came across a dirt road with a freshly dead snake on it. We could tell it was freshly dead because the blood had not coagulated completely and the body was not in rigor. Upon closer examination, I could tell that it was a Bla
ck Racer, Coluber constrictor. It was approximately 1 meter in length and had the characteristically black smooth body typical of the Racer. As the picture shows, it has white on the underside of its chin down onto its throat. Its anal plate was divided and it did not really have any sort of pattern on it. According to the literature, Racers lose most of their patterns once they get to be around 75 cm, so it makes sense that this particular snake did not have any pattern.
ck Racer, Coluber constrictor. It was approximately 1 meter in length and had the characteristically black smooth body typical of the Racer. As the picture shows, it has white on the underside of its chin down onto its throat. Its anal plate was divided and it did not really have any sort of pattern on it. According to the literature, Racers lose most of their patterns once they get to be around 75 cm, so it makes sense that this particular snake did not have any pattern. After examining and documenting the snake, we put it in the woods nearby so that nature's recyclers could begin their work. It is unfortunate that this snake got run over, but it is not uncommon, especially for snakes like the Black Racer that spend a lot of their time near the roadside, hunting for prey. It just goes to show that we should be paying more attention when we are driving, especially on country roads near such a dynamic ecosystem. Despite all this, the death of the Black Racer was not in vain as it allowed us to examine it in detail, which would have been much more difficult if it was still alive. Overall, it was a very interesting trip and I would recommend going to the Caw Caw Center to anyone that likes South Carolina's plants and animals.
Andrew See
Charleston, SC
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