Backyard baby....Southern black racer?

10-13-2009, 08:30 PM

My husband found a baby snake while hanging laundry over the weekend. It actually leaped upward from branch to branch in a shrub by the house. I've never seen a snake do that. Pretty cool! We live in a subdivision, so I caught it and put it in my "emergency viv." This afternoon we relocated it to a more snake-friendly locale nearby.

It was about 16 inches long, and mostly black on top. There were traces visible of a blotched pattern, and the dots near the ventral edge of its sides were sort of burgundy/maroon. Its eyes were reddish orange. I'm guessing that this little cutie is a young Southern black racer. We have a lot of king snakes in the area, but the head shape looks wrong to me for a Lampropeltis. What say you?

10-13-2009, 08:51 PM

That is the CUTEST little baby racer!!! And yes, it's definitely a racer. I'm glad you decided not to keep it. Even though they don't get large, they require a much larger viv than usual due to their incredibly active nature.

10-13-2009, 09:30 PM

LOL. Yup. NICE little racer! Congrats for the catch and release!

10-13-2009, 11:50 PM

Thanks, Robbie and Fred. I'm glad to have had a chance to check out this baby up close. I don't remember ever seeing a juvenile before, though I've see adults from time to time. I wish him/her a long, safe life in the wild.

10-14-2009, 05:12 AM

Cool! I've never seen the in-between phase. If you want to see a snake jumping up a tree, look at the you tube video "snake vs rabbit.' (Nothing bad happens).

10-14-2009, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nanci

Cool! I've never seen the in-between phase. If you want to see a snake jumping up a tree, look at the you tube video "snake vs rabbit.' (Nothing bad happens).

Oh my goodness! Thanks for that, Nanci.

10-14-2009, 07:54 PM

oh wow nice snake and vid

11-07-2009, 03:22 AM

what a little cutie!

11-07-2009, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nanci

Cool! I've never seen the in-between phase. If you want to see a snake jumping up a tree, look at the you tube video "snake vs rabbit.' (Nothing bad happens).

Nanci I have been catching racers since I could walk and I have never seen that phase either. Lots of babies I caught more adults as I got older but yeah that is very interesting

11-07-2009, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snakemaster24

Nanci I have been catching racers since I could walk and I have never seen that phase either. Lots of babies I caught more adults as I got older but yeah that is very interesting

Thanks. I'd seen a lot of adults, but nary a juvenile like this. I feel even luckier to have caught it since reading comments like this.

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