‹ Compare two snakes
Coachwhip vs North American Racer
(c) Matthew Lumsden, some rights reserved (CC BY)
Coachwhip
Masticophis flagellum
Non-venomous(c) Jonathan Eisen, some rights reserved (CC BY)
North American Racer
Coluber constrictor
Non-venomousThe quick way to tell
The coachwhip is two-toned: dark up front, fading lighter toward a braided-looking tail. The racer is one even color.
Pattern ★ This settles it
Two-tone - dark head and neck fading to tan, pink or cream toward the tail, or the reverse.
Plain black, blue-gray, olive or tan; belly pale to gray; young strongly blotched.
Head
Small narrow head with large eyes; barely wider than the neck.
Small head only a little wider than the neck; large eyes.
Eyes
Round pupil in a large eye - a sight hunter; no heat-sensing pit.
Round pupil in a large eye - a sight hunter; no heat-sensing pit.
Pits
None. There is no pit between the eye and the nostril.
None. There is no pit between the eye and the nostril.
Tail
Very long and tapering like a braided whip; no rattle.
Long and slender; no rattle.
What it does
Races off with its head raised; bites hard if cornered.
Fast and nervous; vanishes at speed, bites when held.
Where it lives
Southern US from California, southern Nevada and southwestern Utah east across Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas to the Carolinas and Florida.
Nearly nationwide: every lower-48 state except Arizona, and into southern Canada, but absent from most of the desert Southwest.