


The southern black racer typically ranges between 0.6 to 1.4 meters in length or between 20 to 55 inches in length. Juvenile black racers actually have gray or reddish-brown splotches on their skin. The distinctive color pattern of the black racer is what they look like as an adult. Yet the black racer is not venomous and kills its prey by constricting them. The cottonmouth snake also looks similar to the black racer, which unfortunately makes some people kill the black racer believing it to be venomous like the cottonmouth. This coloring scheme isn’t unique to the black racer, as the rat snake, garter snakes, and the indigo snake also share a similar color scheme.

The southern black racer, as the name implies, is almost entirely black except for a whitish gray chin and sections of the underbelly. Other members of the genus Coluber include the buttermilk racer (Coluber constrictor anthicus), the tan racer (Coluber constrictor etheridgei), the blue racer (Coluber constrictor foxii), and the everglades racer (Coluber constrictor paludicola). Coluber belongs to the family Colubridae, which is the largest known snake family. Let’s take a closer look at the southern black racer snake and see how it is different/similar to other snakes in its home region.Īs mentioned, the southern black racer is a subspecies of Coluber constrictor snakes. The snake is not venomous, is mostly black except for a white section on its chin, inhabits grassy and wooded areas like thick brush and thickets of plants, and subsists mainly on small lizards and rodents. The southern black racer is a subspecies of the Coluber constrictor that can be found throughout much of the southeastern United States.
