[mike28]

Hi all I move to the Tampa area and I notice a big black snake in the backyard, I at least know is what they call a black racer? my mother started to freak out I stay calm since I done some reading about it, just wanted to know if anybody in here has experience this snakes in their backyards, also are they venomous? or where are the dangerous snakes in Florida?

[Muggy]

Yeah, if it's skinny it's a black racer. They can bite but are non-venomous. I have one that lives on the side of my house. Their presence is a good thing.

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology/FL-GUIDE/ccpriapus01.jpg (broken link)

Check this:

List of Florida Snakes (http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology/FL-GUIDE/fl-snakeslist.htm - broken link)


Your exposure to venomous snakes depends on where you live and what you're doing. In Tampa you'll see lots of black racers. I think the deadliest you'd come across is the Diamondback Rattlesnake, but you'd have to be out in the woods. I've also heard about moccasins being around lakes, but haven't seen any.

Here is the link to venomous FL snakes:

Florida Venomous Snakes


Hillsborough Sheriff bitten by 6-7 ft. Diamondback:

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=53246 (broken link)

[SouthernBelle3]

I had one that frequently visited the landscaping outside my front door until about 2 months ago. I wasn't fond of it, but I left it alone. I also noticed I had less lizards running around. I don't know where it is now, but I assume someone or something killed it. It never bothered me and now I have tons of lizards again. I too have mixed feelings about having one so close to my house.

[Mike1306]

Run, run as fast as you can.

Just kidding.

Black racers are the most common snake around built up areas.
You will have some rattlers, water moccasins and coral snakes but these have mostly been built out of their environment around Tampa. They are still around but if you are not crawling under a home, digging through a wood pile or going down into a gopher tortoise hole you will usually avoid them.
Springtime is usually when they are most prevalent.
Just remember, snakes keep down the rodent population and will usually try to avoid you.
I have only had to kill one rattler in 18 years in Florida, if you cross paths just let them go on their way.

[hiknapster]

We use to have a black snake that would sun herself on our front porch. They are always very cold and appreciate the heat. They will not hurt you.

My Tennessee coon hound, Lucy, started barking at her one day. I told her to stop, and the snake scurried away.

They are friends and not foes.

[firemed]

Originally Posted by Muggy

Yeah, if it's skinny it's a black racer. They can bite but are non-venomous. I have one that lives on the side of my house. Their presence is a good thing.

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology/FL-GUIDE/ccpriapus01.jpg (broken link)

Check this:

List of Florida Snakes (http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology/FL-GUIDE/fl-snakeslist.htm - broken link)


Your exposure to venomous snakes depends on where you live and what you're doing. In Tampa you'll see lots of black racers. I think the deadliest you'd come across is the Diamondback Rattlesnake, but you'd have to be out in the woods. I've also heard about moccasins being around lakes, but haven't seen any.

Here is the link to venomous FL snakes:

Florida Venomous Snakes


Hillsborough Sheriff bitten by 6-7 ft. Diamondback:

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=53246 (broken link)

Hi Muggy! Glad to see your back,

[Jim280]

Some people get the black racer and eastern indigo confused, here is some pix of the eastern indigo. They are good to have around the house.


Drymarchon corais couperi (http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology/FL-GUIDE/Drymarchonccouperi.htm - broken link)

[THASPECIAL]

Originally Posted by Muggy

Yeah, if it's skinny it's a black racer. They can bite but are non-venomous. I have one that lives on the side of my house. Their presence is a good thing.

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology/FL-GUIDE/ccpriapus01.jpg (broken link)

Check this:

List of Florida Snakes (http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herpetology/FL-GUIDE/fl-snakeslist.htm - broken link)


Your exposure to venomous snakes depends on where you live and what you're doing. In Tampa you'll see lots of black racers. I think the deadliest you'd come across is the Diamondback Rattlesnake, but you'd have to be out in the woods. I've also heard about moccasins being around lakes, but haven't seen any.

Here is the link to venomous FL snakes:

Florida Venomous Snakes


Hillsborough Sheriff bitten by 6-7 ft. Diamondback:

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=53246 (broken link)

About the moccasins.....When i was a little boy i lived up in north Florida in White Springs and Lake City and i remember seeing moccasins all the time out behind where i lived...there was a lake near there and when they would come near where we lived my father would shoot them with his gun and throw them in the street ......and there were rattlesnakes up there too...i saw 2 of them as a kid up close but saw others from a distance at different times.....i was pulling weeds on the side of the duplex and i was 12 yrs old and i remember looking back and seeing a little rattlesnake curled up right behind me near my ankle.....i jumped so high over him and ran away really fast .....my father caught him and threw him back in the woods.....my father burned a whole acre of high grass next to where we lived after that so that the snakes would stay out near all the trees ....but yeah there are moccasins and rattlesnakes up there in north Florida....I saw a black racer on someones porch while i was delivering pizza in Deltona....It was curled up behind the pot on the porch

[SouthFloridaNative]

I've crossed paths with many snakes in my lifetime. I Even picked one up by accident thinking it was a something else. We live on a private drive way out and just about everyday for the past 2 months when I go for my evening walks I have seen rattlesnakes on our road. I just walk on past them and when I'm coming back by they are always gone. My husband and I were tromping through the Everglades a few weeks ago in ankle to knee deep water and we crossed paths with a few water moccasins and not one acted aggressive toward us. They all swam away from us. One even let out a "scream" before it bolted. Anyway, I don't believe snakes are just lying around waiting for a human to come along so they can bite them. When they do strike I think it's b/c they feel threatened.

[the_pines]

These black snakes are no problem at all. Don't kill the snakes if you find them. I have seen at least ten or so in a short amount of time. I was trimming the palm tree and one was right next to my head on the palm branch. Please don't kill Florida's wildlife. If its a Rattlesnake call someone and have it removed. Maybe throw a bucket or something on top of it until someone will take it away to some woods. I'm originally from Ohi9o and it really makes me mad that a lot of our native species were extripated or extinct by 1850. Keep it real and don't destroy Florida's creatures. Black snakes are no threat to anyone. Now Cottonmouths are dangerous and very aggressive so don't try to be brave and pick on up. You would know a Cottonmouth from a black snake easily because they're very thick and have a distinct head shape that other pit vipers have. Black snakes will eat rattle snakes and cottonmouths. Coral snakes aren't a big threat either. They're not aggressive towards people. Well if you have kids then have absolutely have them moved to some woods somewhere else. Kids might try to pick up a coral snake because they seem to docile or something like that and they're generally really small. But having black snakes around probably means there aren't other snakes around. Black snakes are serious scrappers.