I have been seeing a black racer out and about my garden. I am like you and let them do their thing, since the keep the rats away, but I get startled when they race on by. I do not like to kill anything and especially critters that do good. But I think it has been around here most of the winter too, since it has been a warm one.

Yes. I see black racers from time to time. I think they keep the anoles under control as well as cockroaches. I enjoy seeing them. They are so fast. I do worry about them attacking hummingbirds and the baby Purple Martins though.

Had a similar encounter on Easter Sunday...

Both were males and the larger was not about to share with the little guy.

Thanks to all for not reaching for the hoe. Snakes of all types are being pushed right off the end of the table as land development continues on (and on). Sure, I'm weird, and have always liked snakes, but sure is good to hear of, at a minimum, grudging tolerance!

Michael, gopher tortoises?

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I like snakes too - all credit to our local Science Center for teaching my grade school class about them. Knowledge is power! Haven't seen the local Black Racers yet this year, but the last few years there were a few & seeing them made me very happy. 1 was quite large - almost 3 feet. I've also chanced upon a ring necked (garter?) snake under a flower pot before.

When I find the shed skins, I bring them in to share w/ the kids @ playcamp.

Sorry, yes. They are indeed both Gopher Tortoises. The big one showed up first and I thought he was a she. He munched on grass and Coreopsis before the little guy showed up. He actually noticed the little guy before I did and 'charged' right up to him and took on an aggressive challenge, which tipped me off that he was not a she. Then I looked closer at the front of his plastron and noted the jutting piece in front used to flip competing males. It didn't come to that this time. The little guy just turned and went back to his burrow.

I have always liked reptiles and have always allowed the anoles, racers, coachwhips and gophers do whatever they wish in my yard. My M-I-L unfortunately is beyond reason when it comes to snakes. Every snake that has been seen in her yard has been 'without a doubt' a Water Moccasin, even though the retention pond behind their house was put in years after they moved in and there hasn't been one actual moccasin spotted on her area. Many racers have been killed in her yard because they were or 'could be' 'Water Moccasins'.

Yes, I know the type. Like the woman I married, for example! She is single-handedly the reason why we will probably never live in FL. The snakes, ya know!

I was at the Koreshan Historical Site just S of Fort Myers a couple years ago. Had a good look at the old buildings and whatnot-very fascinating. Well, that's a state park too, so I naturally wanted to hike the trails. Right at the trail head was a large gopher tortoise mound with a large adult right at the entrance. I must have walked around in that woods for three hours, but when I came back out, via the very same point, that tortoise was still essentially in the same place I'd seen him earlier. Moved maybe 12 inches! We should all have their time sense, lol.

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She must be pretty quick. The black racers aren't easy to catch. As I'm sure all of here know, they don't look very much like a water mocassin. I have found a water mocassin and a coral snake in my yard. At the time my children were small and I had (have) a small Jack Russel terrier. I don't like saying it, but those snakes did not survive the encounters.

We have a couple of black racers I see once or twice a year, plus I spotted a legless skink the other day.

Plus, I saw these two beauties last week at work. Not snakes, but I had to share...

Last night there was a 5ft snake in my lanai. I almost had a heart attack as I stepped over it, didn't see it in the dark. We had the screen door open to let the dog out and it must have crawled in. It was so long, I think over 5 ft. Took some pics which aren't good as it was dark. I opened the other screen door and it went out.

Showed the shots to my neighbor who thought it could be a rat snake?
Any guesses?

Tom, I understand about protectimg the ones you love. If I had a venomous one in my yard, I would either kill it or attempt to capture and call Animal Services. Depends on the snake really. I wouldn't even attempt to capture a rattler. They simply strike too fast and deceptively long. But snakes and turtles are fairly good at returning to their home territories if moved (even read a documented account of a tagged snapper returning from a 10 mile transplant), so when family is at risk, I will take the regretable route.

Yes, Jane, it looks like either a brown or red (corn) rat snake, hard to tell with the lighting. Either way a good one to have around.

Oh, and my M-I-L's house has quite a few inner corners, which usually where her hubby catches and kills them. Though he has admitted to me that not ALL of them have been killed. If she's not watching he will take it down to the pond and 'throw the corpse' in the water.

Beautiful animal, that corn snake. Oldman, I'm not so savvy on the reptiles of FL. What are those big guys?

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They are iguanas - nativised down here in S. Florida for all intents and purposes. There are thousands of them living in the sides of the canals, in the trees, etc.

I see snakes about every day here in the swamps of North-Central Florida. From top to bottom: Pine woods snake, baby banded water snake, black racer, monster 7'+ yellow ratsnake, banded water snake.

Thanks Oldman. Cool animals. At least, I think so! Edited to say, thanks Xentar. Got my posts mixed up.

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I like snakes. If they are poisonous I just stay away from them as much as possible. We have had to move 6 ft black snakes away from the chicken coop. One evening when I went to lock up the chickens, they were all standing out in the run and would not go into the coop...strange! So I go in there and there is a huge black snake in there. I got dh to go get a shovel and pick it up and move it out into the woods. A different time I found one in a nest box devouring eggs. My dd had a king snake for a few years. She eventually got bored of it and sold it to the kid down the street who had been visiting it every day for about 6 mos. He still has it.

Does anyone have Nile Monitor lizards around their property? I have been seeing a lot of stuff on the news lately on how they are overpopulating and eating people's cats!

Wow! As a reptile enthusiast (not a collector-I like them in the wild), and not especially a cat person, that doesn't sound like such a bad trade-off! Lose a few cats, gain a few lizards!

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Lol yeah we get a lot of stray cats around here. I do like cats but the strays are excessive because we are on the outskirts of the city and there are farms, people think they are dumping cats out to 'live in the country'.

I read the Nile Monitor lizards can swim for an hour under water so the fish and game are worried that they will decimate natural fresh water fish and other aquatic populations as well as land animals and birds.

Yes, not really a laughing matter. Crazy stuff happening with animals-mainly reptiles it seems-somehow ending up on the loose in the scrub. Of course, there's probably hundreds or thousands of times more insects coming in!

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I would have to imagine that these lizards would make great gator food. Around where I live the stray cats tend to get eaten by coyotes.