Description: his racer occasionally reaches a length of 5 feet but is usually smaller. It is distinctively but variably colored. Primary color is blue, olive, or black. Many scales, either individually or in groups are contrastingly colored in cream, pale blue, or tan. It shares this varied pattern with the neighboring and aptly named, tan racer. All other subspecies, when adult, have a solid colored dorsum. Hatchlings are lighter than the adults and usually strongly patterned with darker dorsal saddles. Scales are smooth, in 17 rows to and beyond midbody, and 15 rows posteriorly. Anal scale is divided. The eyes are large and the pupil is round.

Habitat: Open longleaf pine woodlands and nearby grasslands where the snakes blend well with the patterns of dappled light.

Range: The buttermilk racer is found only in the United States, in southern Arkansas, Louisiana and southern and eastern Texas.

Found in these States: AR | LA | TX

Diet: They generally eat rodents, lizards and frogs, but as juveniles they will also consume various kinds of soft-bodied insects.

Reproduction: In C. constrictor, mating takes place in the spring from April until early June. Around a month later, the female lays three to 30 eggs in a hidden nest site, such as a hollow log, an abandoned rodent burrow, or under a rock. The juveniles hatch in the early fall. A newborn is 8 to 10 inches in total length. Maturity is reached around 2 years old. Eastern racers have been known to lay their eggs in communal sites, where a number of snakes, even those from other species, all lay their eggs together.

Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, tolerance of a broad range of habitats, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.

Taxonomy: