Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Class : Reptilia
Order : Squamata
Family : Colubridae
Genus : Coluber Species : constrictor
Habitat:
Racers prefer dry sunny areas with access to cover, including old fields, open woodland, hedgerows, thickets and wood edges, and sometimes damper sites such as bogs, marshes, and lake edges are also used.
Racers occupy a home area that may range in size from 2.5 acres to 25 acres depending on the productivity of the habitat. During several cold months of the year racers are inactive in shelters hidden from subfreezing temperatures.
Fall and spring activity peaks are associated with movement to and from the hibernacula as well as mating and feeding. Racers are beneficial to humans in that they destroy rodent and insect pests.
Distribution:
Racers occur from southern Canada to Guatemala, with considerable individual and local variation in regions where two or more subspecies intergrade.
