r/snakes • u/Uvedobleteefe • 5d ago

Wild Snake ID - Include Location First snake I ever see!

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Durham, North Carolina.

I'm very new to living in places with snakes and this is the first one I've ever seen in the wild (a.k.a. my backyard). Is it a rat snake or a coluber constrictor? How can I better differentiate?

I also have a kid who's starting to walk, how can I make sure that there's nothing dangerous lurking?

Thanks a lot!

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u/Odd-Hotel-5647 5d ago

It's a racer, this jet blackness is one way another way would be the head shape, in ratsnakes their head will be more distinct, but i would suggest you get some more experience with both species if you want to ID them. !harmless (Coluber constrictor)

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u/CapraAegagrusHircus 5d ago

Jet black, smooth scales, and also the chin is black are three points I would use having lived in the Durham, NC area and observed a lot of racers and rat snakes. Also I'm guessing this one was just warming up because normally another reliable key is "if the black snake you just saw went zooming off too fast to get a picture, it's a racer. If it nodded and said hey and continued ambling on its way, it's a rat snake"