I live in toledo ohio and was out herping today. i came across a black snake in a small metropark. I tried to capture it but ran into some thorn bushes. There are supposed to be both racers and black rats in this range but the metropark is completely within the city. It was only about 2 feet long, solid black/dark blue color, pretty thick, comprable to my king of the same length. It's thickness was pretty much the same throughout the length of the body, not like a garter which is thicker in the middle and tapers off towards the head and tail. When it ran, it moved in a straight line, no S motion. It also had two small grayish stripes or marks by the cheaks but they only were about 1 inch or two long behind the head. i never got a chance to see the color of the underbelly so no help there. I originally thought it was a racer but i'm not sure if one that small would be into its full blue/black color at that length yet. any help would be appreciated. usually all i ever see are garters and water snakes around here, with occasional fox snakes. This was the first time i've ever seen a racer or rat.

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• Racer or Black rat? - utpike, Thu Apr 15 14:28:29 2004