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North American racer

Coluber constrictor · Snakes · Reptiles

North American racer (Coluber constrictor): Slender, smooth-scaled snake 90-190 cm long with a narrow head wider than the neck and distinct brow ridges. Adults are uniformly dark above (black, bluish, grey or olive-brown) with a white to yellow chin and throat and a varied belly; 17 scale rows at midbody. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Coluber constrictor
Family
Colubridae
In North America
Native
Range
Southern British Columbia, southern Saskatchewan, southern Ontario and southern Maine south through most of the United States (to southern California, Arizona, Texas and Florida) and into Mexico, Guatemala and Belize.
Biology

How to identify it

Slender, smooth-scaled snake 90-190 cm long with a narrow head wider than the neck and distinct brow ridges. [1][2]

Adults are uniformly dark above (black, bluish, grey or olive-brown) with a white to yellow chin and throat and a varied belly; 17 scale rows at midbody. [1][2]

Divided anal plate; male tail is longer with a wide base, female tail tapers abruptly. [1][2]

Juveniles are strongly patterned in grey, brown and red, fading at about 30 in. [1][2]

Field knowledge

Where it lives

Dry sunny areas with cover: old fields, open woodland, hedgerows, thickets and woodland edges; also deserts, prairies, sandhills, canyons and streamsides. [1][2]

Climbs shrubs and small trees; absent from the driest deserts and subalpine zones. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Diurnal and fast; flees to burrows, thick vegetation or low branches, but if cornered coils, strikes and vibrates its tail. [1][2]

Inactive in cold weather and dormant roughly October-March over much of its range; adults often hibernate communally. [1][2]

Broad carnivorous diet: insects, frogs, lizards, small rodents and nestling birds; does not constrict prey. [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Southern British Columbia, southern Saskatchewan, southern Ontario and southern Maine south through most of the United States (to southern California, Arizona, Texas and Florida) and into Mexico, Guatemala and Belize.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology