Black snake

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Black snake
Black snake (Coluber constrictor), North Carolina

Black snake ( Coluber constrictor ), North Carolina

Systematics
Subordination : Snakes (serpentes)
Superfamily : Adder-like and viper-like (Colubroidea)
Family : Adders (Colubridae)
Subfamily : True snakes (Colubrinae)
Genre : Angry Snakes ( Coluber )
Type : Black snake
Scientific name
Coluber constrictor
Linnaeus , 1758

The black snake ( Coluber constrictor ), also known as the American wrath snake , is one of the harmless snakes in North America . They move very quickly and are more often encountered, especially in the gardens of villages and suburbs. Hence their English name Northern or Eastern (Black) Racer . They mainly eat birds and their eggs, but also other small animals such as insects and amphibians .

features

The black snake reaches a body length of 90 to 190 centimeters. The nominate form and some subspecies are black or very dark in color, but the color varies greatly from black to blue, gray and olive-brown. The chin and throat are lighter in color, from white to yellow-brown, and turn into a black, dark gray, bluish, cream-colored, yellow or white belly. There are 17 rows of scales around its body, and only 15 rows towards the tail. The anal plate of the animals is divided.

Young animals are spotted with gray, brown or reddish spots, which increasingly fade with age and are no longer recognizable with a length of about 30 centimeters. The males have a slightly longer tail than the females with a broad base, with the latter no transition between body and tail is recognizable.

distribution and habitat

Distribution area according to IUCN

The black snake is common with several subspecies in North and Central America. The distribution area covers almost the entire United States of America and extends north to Canada and south to Mexico , Belize and Guatemala .

Black snakes live mainly in dry, sunlit areas with hiding places. They prefer open woodland, fallow meadows and fields, hedges and thickets. For the area around the Great Lakes, it was found that the animals occupy territories that vary from approximately one to 20 hectares .

In 1995 the Northern Black Racer was declared the official state reptile of the US state of Ohio by the Ohio General Assembly . The reason given was:

"The black racer snake was adopted because it is native to all 88 Ohio counties and is called the 'farmer's friend' because it eats disease-carrying rodents."

"The black snake was chosen because it is found in all 88 Ohio counties and because it is considered" the farmer's friend "for eating disease-carrying rodents."

- Ohio Governor's Residence : Ohio's State Symbols

Way of life

Black snakes hide in the cold months in which they are protected from frost.

Subspecies

The black snake occurs in several subspecies in its range:

  • Coluber constrictor anthicus ( Cope , 1862)
  • Coluber constrictor constrictor ( Linnaeus , 1758)
  • Coluber constrictor etheridgei ( Wilson , 1970)
  • Coluber constrictor flaviventris ( Say , 1823)
  • Coluber constrictor foxii ( Baird & Girard , 1853)
  • Coluber constrictor helvigularis ( Auffenberg , 1955)
  • Coluber constrictor latrunculus ( Wilson , 1970)
  • Coluber constrictor oaxaca ( Jan , 1863)
  • Coluber constrictor paludicola ( Auffenberg & Babbitt, 1955)
  • Coluber constrictor priapus ( Dunn & Wood , 1939)
  • Coluber constrictor mormon (Baird & Girard, 1853)

swell

  1. ^ J. Harding 1997: Amphibians and Reptiles of the Great Lakes Region. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, MI, 1997 (cited from Animal Diversity Net )
  2. ^ Ohio's state symbols. Ohio Governor's Residence and Heritage Garden, accessed June 8, 2013 .

Web links

Commons : Coluber constrictor  - album with pictures, videos and audio files