Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was in florida a few years ago and came across a snake at paynes prarie. I thought it was a racer but not sure of the subspecies I thought everglades but am not 100% sure it was about 3 foot long and tannish on top and creamish white on the belly, I am not sure if they range into that area of not and if not what would fit the description. thanks
Wayne

The Florida subspecies of the Racer are black, or mottled (Buttermilk) It could've possibly been an Eastern Coachwhip. Look up a picture.

I looked at lots of pics I can't seem to find one that looks like it other than the everglades racer but i'm not sure if they are in paynes prarie or not. do southern racers come in a browninsh color ever?

Possibly an everglades rat snake.....When people usually think of them, they think of the bright orange with yellow bellies. They DO come in the less flashy, brown and white variety though. There would also be 2 darker brown stripes running the length of the body, bordering the spine on either side.

I didn't think of an everglades rat, which is a possibility. The everglades RACER is a different snake all together and is usually a drab black color.

Payne's Prairie is way too far north for you to be considering any snake whose first name is Everglades. Yellow rats are not always clearly marked & fit the description, as well as the first guess posed, Masticophis flagellum.

~~Greg~~

I know for sure it was not a rat snake it was slender and agile, and smooth scaled. do southern racers come in other colors than black, I'm pretty sure it was a racer.

The color doesn't fit for any of the racers that occur in that area...except the coachwhip. They usually have a black head & neck, the rest being tan. Some have the black reduced greatly, but they are more often banded with the black. I wish I could resolve this for ya.

~~Greg~~

My vote at the moment is likely an eastern coachwhip. Back when we could still find them in numbers down here I used to catch the occasional (unmarked) solid tan specimen.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

do you have pics of them, I've looked at a bunch of pics and I still don't think it's a coachwhip, it didn't look like any of them I've seen in the pics.

Wish I did but that was many years ago. Just look at a normal coach and take away the black and your there.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

How about a ribbon snake? They are very common in that area.
Chris