Southern Black Racer Snake

How do you tell the difference between a Black Rat Snake and a Southern Black Racer Snake? I've previously written about Black Rat Snakes and Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snakes. Now I am not so sure whether that previously stated Black Rat Snake was REALLY a Southern Black Racer Snake!!

Southern Black Racer Snake March 17, 2018

Saturday afternoon of St. Patrick's Day 2018, I had brought my large black rectangular planting container to the front garden. I was preparing to plant Chianti Hybrid Sunflower seeds. I left the container and came inside the house. It was as I stepped back outside that I saw the tail end of a black snake.

Southern Black Racer Snake March 17, 2018

This Southern Black Racer Snake looked a bit dirty on its body like it was rolling around in a dirt pile or climbed out of the ground. It was seeking refuge behind my coiled up black garden hose. I watched it as it coiled up out of view behind the hose. Chatting with the snake, it lifted its head to take a look at me.

Southern Black Racer Snake Head March 17, 2018

Take a closer look at the photo of that snake above. It had been chilling for maybe 20 minutes in the hose. I had been talking with a neighbor who stopped in front of my house. Looking to my left, I saw the Southern Black Racer Snake had lifted its head and was watching and listening to me. Pretty cute. Looking to the lower left, you can see a bit of the snake's coiled body that looks like a piece of garden hose!

Southern Black Racer Snake Head March 17, 2018

In this last photo, the curious snake has turned its head a bit and you can see its eye and lighter color under its mouth. It probably was another ten minutes later that I was standing in my side yard talking with the older couple next door that this snake decided to slip away. I'm not sure which way it went, but am guessing it might have slid through the opening in the stone under the side of the house.

Living in Jacksonville and now Leesburg, Florida, I have seen more snakes than I ever saw in my life!! Want to see other Florida snakes I've observed?

Check out my blog post on the Florida Scarlet Snake. In that post, I share photos of the Florida Scarlet Snake along with an adult Black Racer Snake, Common Garter Snake, and Water Moccasin Snake. Check out my other blog post on the Red Rat Snake for photographs of a really colorful snake.

In my blog post on the Black Rat Snake, I share multiple photos of several sightings of larger black snakes that I thought were Black Rat Snakes. Now, I am not 100% certain those are necessarily Black Rat Snakes, but maybe a Southern Black Racer Snake? The black snake I observed going through the back of my yard was quite large; easily 5 ft. or more in length!

Writing about the Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snake, that is such a pretty little snake with its reddish brown blotches and blue-gray body. The juvenile I observed coming up my driveway had a really feisty personality.

Beware of snakes on the internet known as the content scrapers!!

Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snake

The Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snake looks nothing like the adult Black Racer! Perhaps that is to give this snake a better chance to survive in that it resembles other more threatening snakes. It was early in the afternoon on a September Saturday when I noticed a smallish snake scurrying up my driveway. I couldn't tell from my kitchen window what type of snake, so I grabbed my camera and headed outside to get a closer look.

Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snake - Leesburg, Florida

Before I lived in Leesburg, I had lived in Jacksonville for well over twenty years. During those two decades, I had the opportunity to observe quite a few black racer snakes in my yard. For the most part, they weren't solitary, but were usually seen racing or scooting through my yard. Not this little guy!

Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snake - Leesburg, Florida

I had never seen a Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snake before so it never occurred to me that this was a young black racer snake. Comparing the snake to the color of the driveway, it seemed to have a bluish-gray color offsetting the reddish-brown blotches. It was probably between 14 and 16 inches in length. Newborn black racers are about 9 inches in length.

Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snake - Leesburg, Florida

This juvenile snake was extremely feisty. As it moved up the driveway, it had its tongue out and head up. It was raising its head, assuming a strike pose and did strike out at me a few times. I fully expected the snake to keep on scurrying and head away from me. But, it didn't.

Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snake - Leesburg, Florida

After a few photos, the snake had scurried into my front yard garden and was resting near the trellis of my Confederate Star Jasmine. I snapped a couple more photos and then left the snake. Coming inside, I was curious to try and identify this snake. Not that long ago, I had observed a Water Moccasin in the grass across the street from my home. Judging from the "combative" feisty behavior of this little snake, I was thinking not a friendly snake I'd want to bite me.

Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snake - Leesburg, Florida

Doing a lot of Google searches for speckled, mottled gray-blue and reddish-brown snakes, I found this little snake did resemble, a bit, a Dusky Pigmy Rattlesnake or a Prairie Kingsnake. I did research a variety of Garter Snakes, but didn't think that was the right snake. It was challenging trying to identify this snake because I wasn't sure how to describe its markings.

Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snake Dead February 22, 2018

I was having my A/C maintenance performed on February 22, 2018. When the fellow finished up using his hose, I found this Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snake dead in the grass. It had a small cut on its lower body. Such a shame!

The first website that I found which helped me to identify this juvenile snake was Snake Removal Trap which has a photo gallery of Florida snakes. On that page, there is also a closeup photo of a Juvenile Corn Snake which is similar to the Juvenile Black Racer Snake with it blotchy reddish-brown markings.

Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snake Dead February 22, 2018

The second website that confirmed the identify of this juvenile snake was Cambridge in Colour which has a couple of excellent closeup photos on their forum. That's when I was pretty sure I had the right snake as it looked like mine!

I was looking now for a Florida website to see more photos and information on this snake. I came upon UF's Florida Museum page on the Coluber constrictor priapus where it clearly states, "Juvenile southern black racers are blotched." Well, now we know.

A really excellent photo of the Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snake was found on the South Carolina Public Radio website by Kevin Enge of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.

Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snake Skin January 30, 2018

Working in my front yard garden on January 30, 2018, I noticed a strip of shed snake skin under my Firecracker plant. I am quite sure it was from a Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snake and it is a good probability it was the same one found dead a few weeks later!

Researching this snake further, I learned this snake is not recommended as a pet because of its nervous disposition. It will readily bite to defend itself -- yes, I definitely got that part of its makeup! About four in ten of the juveniles will survive ... so that may explain why this snake starts off with the interesting markings ... to enhance its chance at survival.

If this snake was hungry, it came to the right yard! My front yard garden is occupied by a plethora of brown anole lizards and some skinks. I've seen snails, frogs and toads and beetles. As I work a lot out in my garden(s), I will be curious to see if this little fellow hangs around!

Want to see other Florida snakes I've observed? Check out my blog post in the Florida Scarlet Snake. In that post, I share photos of the Florida Scarlet Snake along with an adult Black Racer Snake, Common Garter Snake, and Water Moccasin Snake. Check out my other blog post on the Red Rat Snake for photographs of a really colorful snake.

Snakes on the internet? Yes, there are snakes to be found on the internet, but a bit different from the Juvenile Souther Black Racer Snake. The snakes of which I speak are the content scrapers who steal other people's copyrighted images and written content. Not only are they snakes about stealing people's original work, but they use their brand names to steal the traffic. DO NOT BE FOOLED! Be very careful if you decide to click through to that OTHER website that might have stolen my copyrighted image!

UPDATE: We have had a heat advisory for the past several days here in Leesburg, Florida. It is the afternoon of July 4, 2023 and pretty steamy for anybody who has been out at festivals for the Fourth of July! It was after 4pm when I stepped into the carport to gauge the heat and if I can sit out and have some green tea and not be overcome from the heat. That was when I glanced down at the concrete and saw this Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snake limp and not moving. I picked it up by its tail and noticed it had probably been brought in by a community cat and left for me to find. I decided to take a few photos and post them here. I especially wanted a particular reader to notice the whitish underbelly of the juvenile snake.

I flipped the juvenile snake over to show its top side and pretty gray and reddish markings.

As I was looking at the head of the juvenile snake, I was amazed at the patterns on its head. Take a closer look at the next image ... what do you see?

RIP little Juvenile Southern Black Racer Snake.