What do red racers snakes eat

This snake can be mistaken for other types of snakes as well. When threatened they will rattle their tail in the leaves mimicking that of a rattlesnake like lots of other species do. Blue racers can also commonly be confused with fox snakes when they are juveniles and rat snakes as adults.

They prefer a drier habitat with sunny spots along with some cover in the mix. The racers love open forest, fields, old farm pastures, thickets, around marshes, and although they are mostly terrestrial ground dwelling , although snakes they will often climb and forage.

However, like many other species on this planet, due to habitat loss and degradation, the population of blue racer snakes is in decline. Blue racers are diurnal hunters, meaning they hunt during the day.

This allows them to hide away at night while their predators come out to hunt. Their scales along the back are red, tan, pink or brown, and they have black bands around the neck. Pink scales cover the underside. These snakes tend to avoid forest areas and dense vegetation, preferring the open, rocky country of the desert. They move quickly and can be found crawling through grasslands and sagebrush on flat or hilly terrain. Red racers often seek shelter in crawlspaces and gaps under rocks and vegetation or in rodent burrows.

Like all snakes, red racers are aggressive predators, living on a diet of small animals, including mice, lizards, other snakes, birds and their eggs, bats and amphibians. These diurnal active during the day snakes are extremely fast and agile with keen eyesight. Coachwhips have an undeserved reputation of aggression towards humans because of their extremely fast speed on land.

In reality, coachwhips do not pose any danger to humans. They are usually nonaggressive towards people and do not produce any venom. Eggs hatch in the late summer or early fall. Interesting facts: Many people believe that coachwhips actively chase and whip people. Both myths are false. Conservation Status: Although generally uncommon in our region, coachwhips are not protected throughout most of it. Coachwhip snakes eat a wide variety of prey such as small rodents, amphibians, lizards, birds and birds eggs, insects or spiders and snakes including venomous snakes.

Some reptile keepers think that coachwhip snakes, particularly those that are caught in the wild, are prone to biting. As such, they may be challenging to make a good pet. Others, though, like these snakes as pets even though they require special care and handling. When confronted, they can lift up to a third of its body off the ground and still move forward to attack. A slender fast-moving snake with smooth scales, a large head, somewhat forward-facing eyes with round pupils, a thin neck, and a long thin tail.

There is no well-defined stripe lengthwise on the body in this species. Large scales above the eyes. The braided appearance of scales on the tail like a whip gives this species its common name. Color is variable; light brown, pink or reddish above. The dark coloring is interspersed with light coloring creating a banded or saddled appearance, with dark coloring surrounding the light scales. Dark often black blotches across the top of the neck, sometimes with white, sometimes with body color, inbetween.

Sometimes the neck and much of the head are solid black. Color typically changes to a solid tan or reddish coloring along the length of the long thin tail. Black and yellow phases of this subspecies are found outside of California. Young have blotches or crossbands with dark brown or black on a light brown or tan background.

Black markings on the neck may be faint or not present. Active in the daytime. Able to tolerate high temperatures. Moves very quickly. Coachwhips are good climbers, able to climb bushes and trees. Often seen moving quickly even on hot sunny days, but often seen basking on roads in early morning or resting underneath boards or other surface objects.

Frequently run over by vehicles and found dead on the road, partly due to the tendency of this snake to stop and eat small road-killed animals. Eats small mammals including bats, nestling and adult birds, bird eggs, lizards, snakes, amphibians, and carrion. Hatchlings and juveniles will eat large invertebrates. The ability to tolerate high temperatures enables this snake to hunt heat-dependant lizards when they are active.

High speed allows it to run down the fast-moving lizards. Hunts crawling with head the held high above the ground, occasionally moving it from side to side to aid in binocular vision and depth perception. The prey is overcome and crushed with the jaws or crushed beneath loops of the body then eaten without constriction.

An adult Red Racer was observed swallowing the head and neck of a live Southern Pacific Rattlesnake that it had pinned to the ground with its body. Herpetological Review 45 2 The lifespan of a Coachwhip is approximately 13 years in the wild, and 20 years in captivity. Stewart, H.