Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Was riding my mountain bike at Arbor Hills Nature Reserve in Plano, TX and saw a snake cruise across the sidewalk. I ran over to see what it was and immediately lost it. I spent the next 5 minutes scanning the ground trying to spot it. Then out of the corner of my eye, about 2 feet away I see him grab a grasshopper. I sat paralyzed in awe for another 5 minutes watching him choke it down.
He had to be one of the most beautiful snakes I've ever seen. A light blue and green body with a white belly. At first I thought it was a rough green but he was way too fast, too big and was blue over his head and mid section. I think it was a racer i've heard called a blue or buttermilk racer. Anyways it was a spectacular thing. Does anyone have any pics or info they could post of this species?
I didnt know blue racers had green in them. Its possible he could have been a rough green snake but they for sure dont have blue heads..
A month ago I saw another racer, I think a black one climb a tree in a matter of seconds. This one was about 4' long and too slender for a rat snake. I really need to get a digital camera to take with me on the trails.
So far this year i've seen:
1 juvenile copperhead-pink and brown-awesome!(first time for me)
10 rough green snakes
1 black racer
3 blue racers, (one with green fade)
1 red ear slider crossing the sidewalk
1 massive water snake in Brokenbow, OK
1 dekays in Brokenbow, OK
tmtc rabbits

I don't have any answers or pictures, I just wanted to respond. I,m in Ft worth. I work for a private school in Arlington. We have a natural wet lands on our campus and I,ve seen alot of activity recently. I had to rescue a five foot tx rat out of the road friday, I think it was chasing the squirels. Any way it sounds like you've been busy. Don't you just love this time of year, it's cooling down and all the critters are out.

Jim

Yeah it should be good down here in Houston soon too. The way that it is cool in the morning and evening leaves a nice little period of activity where the snakes can bask. That means afternoon and early evening are pretty good bets. I remember this time last year field herping really started to warm up. Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry

I remember the one you posted about a while back. I'm still wondering about that one, because you're well out of the published range of the black racers.

In this case, I think what you saw was an Eastern Yellowbelly Racer. Can you give some more details on the pattern (how the blue and green appeared - e.g., bands, stripes, spots), and an approximate length? E. Yellowbellies can be highly variable in coloration, but often tend toward greenish or bluish. The greener ones are among the few snakes that might be mistaken for a green snake. And they do eat insects occasionally (I didn't know that until I looked it up).
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MichaelB

I agree. I have seen yellowbellies so blue that they would knock your socks off haha. I have also seen them in yellow, green, ect. The babies supposedly will take insects, crickets and whatnot, though mine never did. They did take frogs though. But they would also scale trees with no problems. If you come across one in the field, it will be up a tree faster than you can blink. Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry

Sorry for the late delay.
You know I had that racer within grasp, I just froze up and
started to think about it. Once that happens you can forget it. Anyways you might find it interesting that I saw a juvenile the other day as well. His pattern was way different, he was not solid but speckled like a speckled king in black and yellow. You guys are right about one thing, they are gone in a flash! The adult green was probably 3' at least as he covered the whole sidewalk while crossing. I dont think it was a rough green, they are pretty slow in comparison and easy to catch but hard to spot.

The babies are speckled, much different from their older counterparts. You can check out my site below calling herps of houston. There is a pic of a young yellowbelly on there. Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry

Thats the one, that speckled baby, good lookin snake.
We used to have so much fun in Houston chasing down banded water snakes,ribbon snakes, and hognose. Never saw one poisonous. Must have been lucky. I've seen several in DFW, moccasin and copperheads, but only one rattler in Texas in my life!

We went out one day in may and got 36 cottonmouths in 2 hrs. We found like 6 or 7 on Friday night. Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry