EASTERN
YELLOW-BELLIED
RACER
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Characteristics:
* Known as the "blue racer" to many people
* The adult snake has solid blue to greenish colored back with a cream to bright yellow belly, with no pattern on back or belly
* Young racers have dark blotches along the back with spotted sides and scattered dark speckles on belly. As they grow older (2-3 years), this coloration changes with skin shedding to the solid adult coloration
* Smooth scales
* Nonvenomous
* Diet: small mammals, birds and their eggs, amphibians, and insects
* Habitat: open grassland, pasture, and prairie areas
* Distribution: in the counties adjacent to the Missouri River and all counties in western South Dakota