BLACKSNAKE, or BLUE RACER. A common colubrine serpent (Zomcnis [formerly Itasca Own] constrictor), prevalent over all parts of the ("lifted States and the adjacent borders of Canada. It is slender in form, but rarely if ever exceeds 6 feet in length. The color of Eastern adults is uniform, lustrous pitch-1)1;1cl: above and slate-color beneath, sometimes tinged with greenish white; lower jaw, chin, and some times edges of the upper-lip plates, white; tongue, black. Specimens from the \Vest and Southwest exhibit a more or less bright olive green, with the whole under surface greenish white to bright yellow; hence the Western names 'blue racer' and 'green racer.' fhe young under about IS inches long are variegated With dark blotches upon dusky olive, with light mar gins on the scales, especially along the sides. This is one of the most ubiquitous, numerous, and vigorous of American snakes. It is at home on the ground, where it runs with amazing swift ness; but it is also an expert climber, scaling large trees and searching their topmost branches, perhaps 100 feet above the ground. with as great case as it explores bushes and rocks; it will leap more than its own length from tree to tree when in haste. It is also a swift and powerful swimmer, and seeks much of its food in swamps and along streams. Its food consists mainly of frogs, toads, other snakes, small mammals, birds and their young, and eggs, together with some insects. These are captured by a stealthy ap proach and swift stroke or chase, and more often by night than by day. It is very useful to the farmer in destroying great numbers of moles and mice, but also is the most indefatigable and successful searcher for birds' nests.
Objects of special animosity are the copper head and rattlesnake, whose trail it follows by scenting. like a dog and having overtaken one of these sluggish reptiles it leaps upon it. avoiding the stroke by its swiftness. catches it by the back of the neck, and wrapping itself about it, crushes, bites, and shakes the life out of it, after which it. swallows it whole. "The con
stricting power of the blacksnake," according to Cope (Report United States National Museum, 1898. p. 795), "is not sufficient to cause incon venience to a man, but might seriously oppress a child. The pressure exercised by a strong indi vidual wound around the arm is sufficient to . . . cause the muscles to ache, but it is easy to unwind the snake with the free hand and arm. The blacksnake is harmless, and its bite, which it rarely inflicts, only amounts to a seri ous scratch. . . . It is courageous, and will sometimes attack, moving forward with the head raised one to two feet above the ground. It, however, quickly turns about and runs if the enemy preserves a bold front." Large ones are easily killed by quite small dogs. and among its enemies are all the carnivora, especially, per haps, the skunk and badger. It is inclined to frequent a limited area continuously.
These serpents hide away in hollow stumps and underground dens at the approach of cold weather, where often several will entangle them selves into a ball for mutual comfort and remain torpid until spring. They breed during the sum mer, the female—which is larger and darker than the 15 or 20 eggs in a hollow in a sunny bank, or amid the dry dust of a decaying stump, or perhaps within an old dungheap, and remaining near until the young hatch, when she takes charge of them and defends them until they have reached a considerable size. This snake is tamable, hut individuals differ in tem perament and docility, some showing much in telligence and kindliness, while others arc irasci ble. Several other species of the genus belong to the Southwestern United States, and the West Indies, and the Texan whipsnake (q.v.) is a near relation. The chain-snake is sometimes called 'mountain blacksnake.' Other blackish serpents known as blacksnakes include a Pohl brine of Jamaica (Oryophis /tier), the death adders (q.v.) of Australia and Tasmania, and some others, notable for dark lines.