Can Somebody Please Help Me ID this Snake - Florida

[ADubin]

Can somebody please help me identify this snake? Thank you, ADubin

[Jim Smith]

It looks like a young black racer to me. Completely harmless and very beneficial to have around.

Jim Smith

[ADubin]

Jim, Thank you so much for your reply to my request.

It looks like a young black racer to me. Completely harmless and very beneficial to have around.

Jim Smith

[SerpentineDream]

I second that opinion--juvenile black racer. They are not very people friendly but they are non-venomous. If you have a rodent problem they'll help you clean it up. They can also move like greased lightning, hence the "racer" moniker.

[Jim Smith]

You can tell the difference between a Black Racer and a juvenile Black Rat Snake by three points.

1. From the top looking down on the snake, the head of the Black Racer is slimmer, with the jaws about the same width as the neck of the snake. On a black Rat Snake, the head is wider and the jaws are wider than the neck.

2. The scales on the Black Racer are smooth with no center ridge (keel), while those on a Black Rat Snake will have the center keel on the scales.

3. The belly on a Black Racer be all white or cream colored, while the belly scales on a Black Rat Snake will have alternating pattern of black and white bands on the belly.

Other than than, they are very similar and are both very beneficial to have around to help with rodent control.

Jim Smith

[toddnbecka]

You can tell the difference between a Black Racer and a juvenile Black Rat Snake by three points.

3. The belly on a Black Racer be all white or cream colored, while the belly scales on a Black Rat Snake will have alternating pattern of black and white bands on the belly.

Other than than, they are very similar and are both very beneficial to have around to help with rodent control.

Jim Smith

The adult black racers I've found all had black bellies with a white or lemon yellow chin. Is that different in young/sub-adult racers?

Another distinction is body shape, rat/king/milk snakes are shaped like a loaf of bread, rounded on top with a wide, flat belly. Racers have rounded sides, with a narrower belly.