How to ID a Black Racer vs Black Rat Snake. What is the difference? 

My son's favorite memory is of me picking up a garter snake again after it bit me and made me bleed. He was in kindergarten and thought I was the coolest Mom for picking up the snake and explaining to the kids how great snakes are, and how the kids should not harass them.

When I was about 13 I drove a tractor with a sickle mower on it cutting hay in the Forked Deer River bottom in West Tennessee. I saw while mowing a Blue Racer aprox. 5 ft. in length from a short distance, traveling in the field with his head up a few inches off of the ground moving at a good pace. The following spring we broke ground to plant in the same area and uncovered 3 to 4 large clutches of white leathery eggs across the field we were working. I have never seen a Blue Racer any more in my adult lifetime.

I’ve just discovered your channel and gave you a bid thumbs up. REALLY REALLY ENJOY what you do and HOW you do it! Thank you and look for to watching so much more!

I loved this video. I loved that this poor black racer was found by you and not someone else. I loved the message about plastics. We don't have the black rat snakes here in central Florida, we have their cousins, the yellow rat snake. Before the new taxonomists messed with the scientific names our yellow rat snake and black rat snake were both Elaphe obsoleta, our yellow rat snake had the third name of quadrivittatus. Now they say our yellow rat snake is Patherophis alleghaniensis, which I find funny since our yellow rat snake isn't anywhere close to the Alleghany mountains. All that aside, your video is awesome. I used to tell people that if you were able to pick it up, it was likely a black rat snake as healthy uninjured black racers seldom give you an opportunity to grab them. LOL. And also, thank you for mentioning the rat snake body shape. Very few people do that. I tell people the rat snakes are shaped like a loaf of bread. Thanks for another great video.

Thank you, I found a black racer in my yard the other day and I didn't know what it was. This helped!

Well I learned I need to remove the netting on my old fence. I disturbed a 5 foot " black " snake last week doing weed removal around my front shrubs. It came out when I went inside for a few minutes. I did find a skin shed in the bushes, but it was no way near long enough to be the snake I saw. When Hubby and I came back outside, it was next to the rock walkway and took off really fast to get under cover again. Learning from you about the plastic, I will remove it today.

I love your channel! Please keep it up!

Here in Michigan we have blue racers...the first snake I ever held....and I remember how smooth and supple the skin was. I had one as a pet for a short time but my mom convinced me it belonged out in nature not in my bedroom.

Fascinating video Mr. Taylor. Sure hope his health improves and he can be returned to nature.

My kids and I just ran into a baby racer yesterday on the tweetsie trail walking yesterday and damn they r fast🤣 did not expect tht lol

When I was around 5, I was walking on a gated tar and gravel road. It was a very warm summer day. 🙂 A snake crawled out of the grass by the side of the road and began following me. 😱😭 If I walked it crawled slowly, but if I ran it crawled faster. It was about 6 feet from me. It never came closer, but it didn't stop following! It was black. It followed me for almost a quarter of a mile. I was in a whirlwind of terror, screaming as I ran, running faster and farther than I ever thought I could. Grandaddy came to my rescue. He said, "If you faced it and stomped your feet at it, it would have run away. It wasn't anything but a little old black racer. Nothing to be afraid of." But nobody made fun of me for being afraid. 😊❤️ ❤️ ❤️

Thanks for another great video!

Thanks for the video, very useful!

Very interesting Frank!

Nice vid. I've never found a Racer here in my part of Virginia. Easter Rat Snakes are plentiful. I have three here on my property. Eddie, Gary and Hoss.

Awsome video. Im watching from our cabin in Maine.

I used to have a back yard vegetable garden and there were what I called black racers always out hunting between the rows in the garden and they would scare you when they would take off so fast you could barely see them. Not scare me but startle me they were jet black and super fast never hurt anyone cool garden pets thanks

I can say that black rat snakes are very effective with regard to pest control - particularly with keeping the mouse population down. Hope you enjoy your time in Chattanooga. I used to live at the foot of Lookout Mountain. It’s a beautiful place and I miss it!

That's the most docile Black Racer I've ever seen. They are pretty mean when cornered or threatened. I had a 6 foot Racer under my back patio for a few years. He preferred to retreat if I went outside & it was hunting/getting warm, but man it was fast.

had a young black racer( I D ed by a florida naturalist ) in the garage , at a foot long was not yet black but checkerboard black and white

He is DIVINE ❤

Good job frank,we must protect all of our native snakes and amphibians big time.and all other native wildlife.

We had a king snake that use to follow us like a puppy.

You are sooooooooo lucky to have such wonderfully diverse fauna. I have O aestivus, love them dearly, could not have seen them in their natural environment but try constantly to ensure they live in comfortable conditions similar to their origins

Hope all turns out well for your racer friend.

Quite simple , the Black Rat does not like to bite , but will coil up and strike if prokoked The black racer will bite with little or no provacation ,i caught a 4 footer and he bit me 4 times in sbout 2 minutes and they bite hard .,And they will go at your face ,Caution advised.

This racer is unusually docile. I'd imagine an injured snake would be more aggressive, but I guess there are no hard fast rules. I do hope it recovers and can be returned to the wild.

Did he survive?

Which one is friendlier?

I hope the snake was OK. Did you ever find out if he survived?

For being injured and being a racer that is a sweet snake. I have seen them bite so many times, IF someone catched them.

Oh hell no, i be the one thats in distressed and moving😂

Racer: and a coachwhip looking tail?

The only snake here in the foothills of NC that I've seen chase a tractor..

I was going to ask what was going on with his skin 😢 tell me you took him to the vet

Those Black Racers can chace birds like nothing I have ever seen!

The Racer bites a lot...the Rat doesn't.

The black rat bit you! 😅😅😅😅

Is this injured?

poor fella hope its ok. definitely the most lethargic racer ive seen normally they dont sit still

Great fyi all over again!

I will never use that netting stuff around my garden again. I put some around plants in my back yard to keep the deer away. I went out one day and found a juvenile black rat snake tangled in it and dying. Poor snake, it was cut up. Awful way to die. I am sorry.

If you look closely at a Black Rat Snake you won't see sneakers.

they dont smell as bad either lol

Thats not a black racer. The head is all wrong. Also no way a black racer would let you hold it like that. They bite... a lot.

Well done. Handle and mess with an injured Black Racer for 30 or 40 minutes so you can get more clicks instead of going ahead and taking him to the rescue center. I'm sure the snake enjoyed lt. Why don't you get a healthy black racer and mess with him like that him for 30 minutes. They love being handled haha. Smh.

That racer needs Neosporin ointment.and antibiotic treatment now??!!