Snakes have always been feared for their spooky appearance and have gained such a reputation for being dangerous, despite how most of them are venomous and would most likely not want to come into contact with humans. But the truth is, they are fascinating animals, and they are more than just their reputation of having a fearsome look as each snake species are unique in its ways. We’ve always described snakes as legless and limbless creatures that crawl, and it would be hard for us to tell the difference among the 3,000 species of snakes existing today. However, there is one thing that can help us differentiate snake species, and that is their color. Snakes come in many shapes, sizes, and colors. These colors range from red, yellow and brown to green, gray, and black. Today, we’ll talk about snakes, their dark color, diet, habitat, characteristics, and unique traits that may interest you.
Black Swamp Snake
As small and harmless nonvenomous snakes, black swamp snakes can only measure up to 1.25 feet in length. These snakes are black and shiny, with bright red bellies that have black markings on their edges. Young black swamp snakes have similar colors to adults. These swamp snakes mainly inhabit the coastal areas of North Carolina up to Florida and are mostly found dwelling in wetlands, cypress swamps, lake edges, and marshes. These black snakes often feed on worms, tadpoles, leeches, earthworms, salamanders, small fish, and even frogs. Due to the loss of 80% of wetlands in many states, there was a significant loss in the number of species, such as the black swamp snake, as it is only found in wet and moist habitats.
Eastern Rat Snake
Also known as the “black rat snake” due to its solid black coloration, the eastern rat snake is a large nonvenomous snake that can measure between 3.5 and 6 feet long. It can be primarily found east of Florida’s Apalachicola River, east of Georgia’s Chattahoochee River, east of the Appalachian Mountains, north and southeastern New York, western Vermont, eastern Pennsylvania, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Maryland. Eastern rat snakes can live in different habitats, such as wetlands, fields, farmlands, forests, mountains, grasslands, and even rocky areas. Eastern rat snakes primarily feed on lizards, birds, bird eggs, frogs, young chickens, and rodents. They may also feed on chicks, which sometimes causes people to call them “chicken snakes.” They are solitary creatures but may join or group themselves along any other species of snakes such as eastern racers, timber rattlesnakes, or copperheads. They are nonvenomous and will only freeze at the sight of a potential predator.
Eastern Indigo Snake
The eastern indigo snake is another large and nonvenomous snake that is native to the eastern United States and is considered the longest native snake species in the country. Eastern indigo snakes have a solid blue-black color, as they received their name by having glossy iridescent scales that can turn into blackish-purple when shed under bright lights. Unlike most snakes, male eastern indigo snakes are more extensive than females. These large snakes mainly inhabit cane fields, wetlands, dry meadows, and moist forests. They primarily feed on turtles, toads, small alligators, and sometimes other snakes. They are immune to venom, so they can eat venomous snakes such as North American rattlesnakes. Despite their large size, they seldom bite when facing a potential threat. Instead, they vertically flatten their neck before hissing and vibrating their tail to scare off people and predators.
Black Pine Snake
Although it is included in a group of closely related snake species consisting of other pine snakes, bull snakes, and gopher snakes, the black pine snake is limited to certain parts of the southeastern United States. Black pine snakes are mostly found burrowing themselves in woodlands, rocky areas, forests, grasslands, and even deserts. They have a black or dark brown color on their backs, with patterned bellies and a cone-shaped scale on the tip of their snout. Despite their large size and fearsome appearance, black pine snakes are nonvenomous and only feed on rats, mice, moles, other rodents, and even small mammals. They are also elusive creatures and prefer to spend most of their time burrowing in the ground. They usually hunt underground, where they can mostly find rodents for supper. When disturbed in their habitat, they loudly hiss, flatten their heads, vibrate their tails, and aggressively strike at the intruder.
Southern Black Racer
Southern black racers are fast-moving snakes that can also climb trees and swim well. These fast snakes have thin bodies with a solid black color and grey-colored bellies. Young black racers are usually gray, with reddish-brown blotches that fade through aging. They are found throughout the southeastern United States and inhabit areas such as pinelands, woodlands, grasslands, prairies, sandhills, cypress strands, and forests. These snakes can eat any animal they can hunt, but they usually feed on chipmunks, spiders, shrews, moth larvae, lizards, moles, rodents, frogs, and other small snake species. Like other snakes, they are solitary creatures and are most active during the day to spend their time hunting or simply basking out in the sun. These snakes rely on their high speeds to flee from potential threats when spotted.
