![]() ![]() The blue racer snake is considered endangered in Canada due to the loss of its habitat and food source. ![]() Its family is Colubridae and class Reptilia. The blue racer is also called an eastern racer because of its territory. The Latin word foxii is a tribute to 19th century wildlife collector and naturalist, Reverend Charles Fox. This refers to the snake’s method of killing its prey by constriction. However, the yellow-bellied racer’s territory lies further west in the United States extending to Montana.Ĭoluber constrictor foxii is the long scientific name for a long snake! The Latin word Coluber means snake and the word constrictor means drawn together. Yellow-bellied racer ( Coluber constrictor flaviventris)-The yellow-bellied racer grows to around the same length as a blue racer and shares the same type of diet.However, its range runs from Texas down into Mexico and it’s shorter in length than the blue racer at just 40 inches. ![]() Mexican racer ( Coluber constrictor oaxaca)-The Mexican racer is like the blue racer in that it doesn’t have venom.But it lives in a different area namely the southern part of the United States (Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas). Buttermilk racer ( Coluber constrictor anthicus)-The buttermilk racer grows to about the same length as a blue racer and is not poisonous.The blue racer snake is one of many subspecies of eastern racer snakes in the Colubridae family. Vibrating their tails among dry leaves, racers can sound convincingly like rattlesnakes.See all of our entertaining and insightful animal articles. They are difficult to handle and will writhe, defecate, and release a foul-smelling musk from their cloacae. However, once cornered, they put up a vigorous fight, biting hard and often. Aptly named, racers are very fast and typically flee from a potential predator. They are curious snakes with excellent vision and are sometimes seen raising their heads above the height of the grass where they are crawling to view what is around them. Most smaller prey items are simply swallowed alive. Despite their specific name, constrictor, they do not really employ constriction, instead simply subduing struggling prey by pinning it bodily, pressing one or two coils against it to hold it in place instead of actually suffocating it. Juveniles often consume soft-bodied insects, such as crickets and moths. Some subspecies are known to climb trees to eat eggs and young birds. Their diet consists primarily of small rodents, frogs, toads, lizards, and other snakes. The eastern racers are fast-moving, highly active, diurnal snakes. ![]() As they grow older, the dorsum darkens and the juvenile pattern gradually disappears. Juveniles are more strikingly patterned, with a middorsal row of dark blotches on a light ground color. All subspecies have a lighter-colored underbelly: white, light tan, or yellow in color. "Runner" is sometimes used instead of "racer" in their common names. Most are solid-colored as their common names imply: black racers, brown racers, tan racers, blue racers, or green racers. The patterns vary widely among subspecies. A typical adult specimen will weigh around 556 g (1.226 lb), with little size difference between the sexes. constrictor is found throughout the United States, east of the Rocky Mountains, but it also ranges north into Canada and south into Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize.Īdult eastern racers can typically vary from 50 to 152 cm (20 to 60 in) in total length (including tail) depending on the subspecies, but a record-sized specimen measured 185.4 cm (73.0 in) in total length. The species is monotypic in the genus Coluber.Ĭ. Eleven subspecies, including the nominotypical subspecies, are recognized, which as a group are commonly referred to as the eastern racers. The species is endemic to North America and Central America. The eastern racer ( Coluber constrictor) is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae. ![]()
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