Southern Black Racer

The southern black racer snake (Coluber constrictor priapus) is a black snake with light markings around the mouth, chin, and throat. It reaches approximately 20-56 inches in length.

This small, fast snake is found throughout Florida (except for the Everglades and Cape Canaveral). Outside of Florida, it is found throughout the eastern United States, from Texas up to Minnesota and as far east as Maine. It lives in a variety of habitats and can often be seen in human residential areas, hunting frogs, lizards, rodents, birds, eggs, and other snakes.

Despite the scientific name, Coluber constrictor is not actually a constrictor snake; it does not wrap its body around its prey but grabs the prey in its mouth and presses it against the ground to hold and kill it. The southern black racer is non-venomous, and is harmless to humans unless mishandled.

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