"This snake often holds it head up out of the grass like a periscope" and can scare your dog! Peati jumped so high she fell in the pool!!

I haven't seen my racer this year ;-( I think that is the only kind of snake we have around here besides a ring neck.

Hahaha...I can picture your doggie jumping, Marion! Potter will chase them into a corner every time he spots one, and I have to watch to be sure he doesn't mess with them. He really wants to kill them, but when a snake starts striking at him defensively, he will usually back off and bark at it, until I come to pick him up and shoo the snake away. I hope he never catches one when I'm not looking, because he will no doubt do it in, and that would break my heart!

Laura, I suspect black racers are likely the most commonly seen snake in our Florida gardens. I'm not sure they are the most common ones THERE, but they seem to be fairly visible compared to others.

I just love them!

Marcia

I saw one in my garden this weekend too. I have to watch my 12 lb bichon, Koda, like a hawk because he kills them along with moles. He grabs them and shakes them, the same way he does his toys, and breaks their neck.

I haven't seen any of my Black Racers yet this year but I was surprised by one of my Banded Water Snakes this weekend. I am used to seeing them in the backyard, closer to the water, but this one was in the front yard. They always make me do a double take since they look like a water moccasin at first glance. The bad part was the new pup "Lily" was with me and I had to grab her before she launched into the bed and did untold damage!

nova

Katkin, that's just what Potter does. It's a fast snap, and will break their backs in a heartbeat. Same way he kills rats, actually. I always try to keep an eye on him when we are outside, for HIS welfare, and for that of my yard birds, snakes and lizards.

Nova, I was talking to Kate's neighbor Saturday about ponds, and she was saying she didn't want one for fear it would draw snakes (particularly water mocassins). I was thinking to myself later, "Funny, that's one reason why I really WANT a pond." Diff'rent strokes, eh?

Banded water snakes are KEWL! (Oh, look how trendy I am...haha! Kewl???)

Marcia

Mine love to climb! They watch e from above.
{{gwi:846013}}

Good for you, Miss Marcia!
I'm still waiting to see my first for this year.
Wonder where they all are???
It certainly seems warm enough.

Oh boy...I'm sitting here sweating, my pulse racing, hands shaking a little....Yes, I admit it! I have snake-a-phobia! I would never harm them, especially the racers because I know they are beneficial little fellas, but aaahhhh! I can't help it that I'm a 'fraidy cat! Is there a pill I can take for this?

The black racer is back in my garden too. I'm not as blase about it as the rest of you, however. If mine "shot" out in front of me like Marcia's did, I'd have to go into the house and change underwear.

I do know it's a "good" snake and I sing its praises to the neighbors so they let it be.

Now, as I make my garden rounds, I check the lawn for a black head poking above the grass. If the coast is clear then I make a wide path around the flower beds, admonishing my friend NOT to dart out. I know it can't heard me; talking just makes me feel braver. Don't know what the neighbors are thinking, however. Probably locking their doors and closing the blinds so the "crazy" out in her garden doesn't know they're home.

June

So fun these guys are. When GD Christiana was here, one morning she called to her Uncle Dan. "Uncle Dan, Cindee has to keep the doors closed tight, there's lizards and snakes in the garden by the pool!!" Dan came out to the pool cage and told her naw that was just a soaker hose not a snake...then he looked closer and saw my BIG BOY, moving over the mulch. He told Christiana (5 yrs) to make sure she told me when I got up! She was fascinated watching the snake move along. He hangs out all the time. I love him.

Tampafred, the cure for ophiophobia (sometimes called ophidiophobia) is loads of information and some hands-on experience, gently led by someone who loves and appreciates snakes. (Like me!) Seriously, the more you learn about something, the less mysterious and frightening it becomes. And actually getting up close and personal with a snake often helps tremendously in relieving the phobia. At least the palpitations and sweating can be eased, even if you never learn to LOVE the animals, per se.

I love the poem by Emily Dickinson that says,

A narrow fellow in the grass
Occasionally rides;
You may have met him,--did you not,
His notice sudden is.

The grass divides as with a comb,
A spotted shaft is seen;
And then it closes at your feet
And opens further on.

He likes a boggy acre,
A floor too cool for corn.
Yet when a child, and barefoot,
I more than once, at morn,

Have passed, I thought, a whip-lash
Unbraiding in the sun,--
When, stooping to secure it,
It wrinkled, and was gone.

Several of nature's people
I know, and they know me;
I feel for them a transport
Of cordiality;

But never met this fellow,
Attended or alone,
Without a tighter breathing,
And zero at the bone.

Even when you love snakes like I do, seeing one suddenly can cause a "tighter breathing, and zero at the bone." So it's understandable that some people have problems dealing with them. Hang around here long enough, with me and others singing praises of our black racers, etc, and maybe one day, it will get easier for you. No more "zero at the bone."

Marcia

That is one of my favorite pictures of a black racer, GP!! So beautiful in the way it clings to the tree...almost like magic! Thanks for sharing it again. And notice that even in this picture, you can see his white chin.

Marcia

ohhh boy. my most UNfavorite subject, howEver...have seen three so far this season (shudder) Uh...Fred? when you find that pill, would you PLEASE share with me? we may have to make bootleg flowers to pay for 'em tho...but anything...just anything! Anyway...one black one in my newly formed 'nursery' (and I haven't been back there since), the second was at my front door..ohhh yeah...I walked by it not once, but TWICE..unknowingly!..after dark..I'd gone to get the mail. I have no idea what this one was..kinda spotted and about 3' long. ewwww. Spousal unit had the sprinklers going on the front lawn..he suspects that mr legless was on the sidewalk trying to dry off. and..the third...a tall crane was across the canal whip, whip, whipping something...got binoculars to see a very long black mr legless with a white underbelly (or light-colored, anyway). In spite of the dred phobia like Fred's, I love the poem, Marcia...have never come across that one....wonderfully written, however.... Thanks for something nice in the LegLess column! June...I stamp my feet in the yard and crash a rake...I'm known as the ----- with the stick! (i'd never EVER get close enough to hit one, tho!) ...GP, I'll be thinking twice 'fore I go wandering now....it IS a great picture, however. arrrrgh

Saw mine for the first time this season just this morning.
Haven't seen one in a few months.
Kinda startled me with that zero to the bone thing for a second.
Then I welcomed him back to sunning near the patio.
Of course he disappeared into the underbrush of the garden.
It's springtime!
Glad you're all noticing them too.

I have not seen my swimmer lately. He must be hanging under the bridge. I'm not afraid if I know that is not poisonous
but if one fell on me from a tree Oh my Lordddd I would,I would just pee and dye.LOL
Felix

As a snake lover for many years, may I just tell you how REFRESHING it is to make the acquaintance of people who also appreciate them? (Marcia, I swear, you must be my sister from another mother!!!)

Here in Lake County, where Bubba and Darryl and Darryl make their home (cousins to the Darryl and Darryl that Marcia met when venturing through the Ocala National Forest in search of Nova's home), the general consensus is, "Keeel it! Keeel it!" (which translates to, "Kill it! Kill it!"). No matter that it's a harmless black racer; if it's a snake, it needs to be dead, in their opinion.

I'm thrilled and honored when I see a snake in my yard. It means there is plenty for it to eat, which means I have a viable ecosystem going on, which means I am doing my part to create and maintain an oasis for wildlife.

Thank you, snake lovers!!! And even those who don't necessarily LOVE them as some of us do, thank you for tolerating them and not "keeeling" them!

This post has totally made my day! (-:

I too saw a racer in my garden this past weekend. Had seen them all last summer, but this time I wasn't expecting to see him. Was putting down some pots of plants I had just purchased, and I must have startled him. I think he dropped down from the bush above, and did he scare me!!! Good thing no one heard we yell. The weird thing was he started coming towards me instead of running the other way. I guess he wasn't happy with me for sneaking up on him. After I started backing away(even though my heart had stopped!!), he did finally turn and slither into the bushes.
Next time, I hope he lets me know he is there!!

I believe that you have an Indigo snake there and if it is they get Huge!! the black racer has no light specks, but it all satin black, the indigo has a more pronounced pattern because of a lighter coloring with black...we also have a black snake, he came in the garage one day to visit us, of course hubby had to chase him back outside but he patrols our perimeter for us.

SusieQ, if you mean in my picture on top, no it is definitely a black racer. The white "specks" are really just light hitting the scales from slightly underneath. I worked with indigos at the Central Florida Zoo, and have no problem at all distinguishing between them and black racers.

The head shape and general body of an indigo is very different from a black racer, plus it has a very glossy, blue-black color, as compared to the more satiny sheen of the black racer.

Here is a photo of the indigo snake for comparison. You can see that the head shape is very different, and the glossy color of the body is different, as well.

Here are a couple more photos of indigos, for body and head comparison. It's much thicker and heavier through the body than the black racer, and again, darker and glossier.

Another picture of a black racer, for general comparison. Notice the white chin. The black racer always has that defining mark, where the indigo does not. I have seen indigo snakes with red chins on occasion, but never white. Occasionally, they may have some cream under the chin, but not an obvious white chin, like the racer.

Hope this helps clarify a bit. Neither of these snakes is harmful, by the way, and having either on your property is a big bonus. Your chances of having a black racer are very good. Your chances of seeing an indigo are getting slimmer by the day. They have become very scarce, due to loss of habitat. Unlike the racer, they don't really hang around gardens, looking for small prey, but prefer pine woods and the like.

Marcia (ps...WWW, we need to TALK! Email me when you get a chance!)

Marcia, thanks for the words of encouragement and the Dickinson poem. She's one of my favorites and I was actually just reading a very interesting article about her amazing gardens and the preserved flowers from her gardens that Harvard University has on display.

As for my ophiophobia, I will work on desensitizing myself, with your help of course!! In the meantime, I'll just continue to scream and run around in circles with my arms flailing when I see one. I'll run around the corner and peek to see when he/she has slithered away and then resume what I was doing. Maybe it will also help if I have a few glasses of wine, too!!

I wish I had one in residence. Too many rats and mice caused by feral cat ranchers/feeders living on both sides of me. I guess I really need a medium to large boa or python to deal with the real problem.

I have such a wonderful picture of your Snake Dance in my mind, TF! Hehehehe. Yes, have the wine, and then go sit down with Buckley and Penny for a good cuddle until you stop shivering! (But don't let THEM near the snake! Dachsies are death on 'em!)

Some day I'll come over and help you desensitize!! One of my jobs when I was a docent at the Zoo was to walk around with a great big indigo snake and let people touch it, while I answered their questions. You'd be surprised at how many people were cringing at the thought, but once they'd worked up their courage to do it, you could actually see them relax about it. I think it helped! At least, I hope it did!

Marcia