How You Can Help

Leave them where they are. For those that are fearful of snakes, remember that racers are very active and are unlikely to remain in the Focus on Wildlife same area for an extended period of time. And just because a snake lays eggs in a yard doesn’t mean there will be an increase in snakes NEW HAMPSHIRE WILDLIFE ACTION PLAN seen locally in future years – young snakes have several predators and many don’t survive to adulthood. If you can’t tolerate them, don’t kill them – black racers are protected under New Hampshire’s Endangered Species Act. Instead, maintain a manicured lawn near your house and play areas. Short grass and limited places for hiding will likely reduce food sources and deter snakes and other wildlife. Protect snakes from your Additional Information pets. On conserved lands and For more information on black racers, visit: Help Keep areas known to be frequented Black Racers Racers Safe by racers, keep dogs leashed www.wildnh.com/nongame to minimize the potential for Reptile and Amphibian Reporting Program. Biologists use your reports in New Hampshire • If you are planning to burn snakes to be injured or killed. of black racers to help understand their distribution in the state. Report or move a brush pile, do Keep cats indoors to protect any reptile or amphibian species to NH Fish & Game in one of three ways: young snakes and a variety of it soon after it’s created • Online at nhwildlifesightings.unh.edu (preferred by NHFG) or wait until fall or winter other wildlife species. to reduce the chances a • Send photograph, exact location and date to [email protected] Maintain or enhance snake may be using it. • Send photograph and sighting information to 11 Hazen Drive, existing habitat. A yard Concord NH 03301, C/O RAARP - Wildlife Division. • Keep aware while mowing that is frequented by racers your lawn, particularly if each year is likely to be an the grass has grown tall. important habitat for the Racers and other snakes local population. You can We bring information about NH’s wildlife may react slower than help maintain a healthy racer to you! The Taking Action for Wildlife Team, expected to oncoming population by maintaining made up of staff from both NH Fish and lawn mowers. the conditions you have or Game and UNH Cooperative Extension, works to help towns, land trusts, natural resource • Avoid using erosion enhancing the habitat. Let the professionals, and private landowners conserve wildlife and habitats in control netting and other grass grow long, plant native New Hampshire. We help put information from NH’s Wildlife Action Plan in landscaping netting made shrubs and leave stick and the hands of New Hampshire citizens. of plastic—snakes and rock piles for cover. For more information about habitat management, resources and other wildlife are easily Conserve your land. publications about other wildlife, and to learn more about the New trapped in it often leading Minimizing future habitat Hampshire Wildlife Action Plan visit: to death. loss in areas where black racers are known to occur is vital to the conservation of www.takingactionforwildlife.org the species. Help conserve important natural areas in your community, or put your Authorship: This brochure was produced by UNH Cooperative Extension, an equal opportunity land into a conservation educator and employer. University of New Hampshire, U.S. Department of Agriculture and N.H. easement to help ensure that counties cooperating. Funding for this brochure was provided by the New Hampshire Fish and it will never be developed. Game Department. Written by Haley Andreozzi and Brendan Clifford. June 2015. Photo Credits: Brendan Clifford – NHFG Cooperative Extension Get to Know Black Racers Habitat A Species in Decline Black racers are slender, agile Racers prefer open, Black racers are less common snakes that can grow to 6 feet shrubby habitats. These are than they were 50-100 years in length. True to their name, often referred to as early ago, with small populations they are solid glossy-black successional or “shrubland” scattered across the southern except for a white throat habitats and are used by half of New Hampshire. and chin, and they can move more than 100 wildlife The few remaining large incredibly fast! Young racers species. Racers typically populations persist at sites are patterned with brown or rely on large patches of where suitable habitat has reddish patches on a lighter shrubland habitat like old been maintained for decades. base of gray, and fade to solid fields, powerline corridors, regenerating clearcuts, or the soft edges of Racers are a state-threatened A young black racer. species, and are considered black after 1-2 years of age. agricultural fields. a Species in Greatest Need In the absence of larger of Conservation in the NH Racers are very active snakes and shrublands, racers will use smaller Wildlife Action plan. may travel large distances. They rarely In your Did you know..? habitat patches like backyards, remain in one location for more than a forest openings, and even backyard Threats to Black Racers • Racers are good climbers week and typically move several miles features introduced by human and can occasionally be throughout the summer in search of A yard with areas of dense Human Development. As development like rip-rap slopes or found in trees as high up mates, food and basking locations. or overgrown vegetation New Hampshire’s human junk piles. and man-made features as 30 feet. During the winter months, they tend population grows, much of like stone walls, wood the state’s shrubland habitat • Contrary to their to hibernate in congregations in piles or stick piles are more has been lost or fragmented scientific name, Coluber chipmunk burrows or rocky hillsides. attractive to snakes and by development into parcels Current range occupied by Northern Black Racer. constrictor, racers do not Although large, black racers pose no other wildlife compared too small to provide the best constrict their prey. They to manicured yards. These danger to humans or pets. Like any habitat for black racers. A reduction in habitat quality or availability simply bite and swallow more ‘structurally diverse’ whatever they can catch animal, racers may act defensive when forces racers to move longer distances to find suitable habitat. yards attract prey like mice Increased movement is likely to increase road crossings or encounters − mice, birds, snakes, they feel threatened, but their first and smaller snakes, and also with humans, both of which can result in snake mortality. frogs, or insects. choice is to flee when encountering make nice spots for shedding people or pets. or for females to lay eggs. Forest Succession. There was an abundance of early successional While racers will often move habitat in the decades following large-scale abandonment of between several yards each farmlands in New Hampshire (1900s-1960s), which probably allowed year, they are likely to spend black racer populations to thrive. Over time, these habitats have more time and return year naturally aged and reverted back to mature forests, resulting in a after year in those yards with decrease in the quantity and quality of available habitat for racers. high structural diversity. Encounters with People. Because racers may use backyards when larger habitat patches are unavailable, they are vulnerable to being killed by pets, intentionally by homeowners, or accidentally when they are hit by lawnmowers and vehicles. Nesting females might be found in gardens, mulch beds or wood piles, which are attractive nesting spots. Females may nest communally and use the same area each year, which increases the threat to a population if homeowners are fearful Racers are fast-moving, often ‘racing’ away before they are seen. of and kill snakes. Human encounters that result in mortality can lead to population declines and even local extinctions over time.