The body has a smooth braided appearance that resembles the whip of a coachman, giving the species its common name. The red racer is a long, slender snake, generally measuring anywhere between 3 and 5.5 feet long. This subspecies faces no particular threats in the wild, but they do sometimes fall victim to road accidents. Numbers appear to be very high and stable. The red racer whipsnake has not been evaluated by the IUCN Red List for its conservation status, but the coachwhip species, in general, is classified as least concern. Red Racer Snake Population & Conservation Status The red racer is one of six subspecies of the coachwhip snake along with the eastern coachwhip, western coachwhip, Sonoran coachwhip, and others. Piceus means pitch black in Latin as well. Flagellum also means whip or scourge in Latin. The scientific name of the red racer is Masticophis flagellum piceus. They do not exist as far to the east as New Mexico and Colorado.ġ1,687 People Couldn't Ace This Quiz Think You Can? Take Our Brand New A-Z-Animals Snakes Quiz Below is a list of the American and Mexican states where they can be found. Red racers take refuge in burrows, rocks, vegetation, trees, and other objects.

They prefer areas where the vegetation isn’t too dense and their speed provides a natural advantage. The red racer can be found in deserts, grasslands, shrublands, and rocky, sandy hills throughout the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. When the snake flicks out its tongue, it draws the scent molecules into its mouth. Like all other snakes, the red racer has an organ located on the roof of the mouth that senses odor from the air.The red racer is able to climb both trees and bushes with surprising skill.The red racer is thought to have a normal lifespan of 13 years in the wild and 20 years in captivity.The small newborn whipsnakes have no other associations with their parents after hatching from the eggs. The eggs hatch after about 45 to 70 days. The red racer is thought to mate each year in May and lay a clutch of four to 20 eggs in the early summer.They are not venomous and are generally considered to be harmless to humans. They are thought to be active during the day, basking near roads. These snakes race along the ground with surprising speed when running away from threats or hunting for food. The name should give you some idea of how fast they are. The red racer, also known as the red coachwhip, is a subspecies of the coachwhip or whipsnake. The red racer is among the fastest snakes in North America.

Galapagos island racer snake