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Share your observations of plants or non-game animals with the Natural Heritage Inventory.
Help care for rare plants and animals by ordering an Endangered Resources plate.
- Contact information
- For information on Wisconsin's rare animals, contact:
- Rich Staffen
Conservation Biologist
608-266-4340
North American Racer (Coluber constrictor)
Photo © A.B. Sheldon
Overview
Overview
North American racers (Coluber constrictor) are a species of Special Concern and a Protected Wild Animal. Racers prefer moderate to dry sand prairies and bluff prairies. They are well adapted to open, sunny or savanna-like conditions. This species overwinters individually or communally with other snakes. Fractured limestone is often used to avoid freezing or desiccation during winter. The racer has declined in recent decades due to natural succession resulting from fire suppression and a lack of management to maintain open canopy conditions. Racers are active from April through early October. They breed in spring or fall and lay their eggs from mid-June to early July below the surface in sandy soils. Eggs hatch in 55-65 days, usually in August or early September.
State status
Status and Natural Heritage Inventory documented occurrences in Wisconsin
The table below provides information about the protected status - both state and federal - and the rank (S and G Ranks) for North American Racer (Coluber constrictor). See the Working List Key for more information about abbreviations. Counties shaded blue have documented occurrences for this species in the Wisconsin Natural Heritage Inventory database. The map is provided as a general reference of where occurrences of this species meet NHI data standards and is not meant as a comprehensive map of all observations.
Note: Species recently added to the NHI Working List may temporarily have blank occurrence maps.
| Summary Information | |
|---|---|
| State Status | SC/P |
| Federal Status in Wisconsin | none |
| State Rank | S2 |
| Global Rank | G5 |
| Tracked by NHI | Y |
| WWAP | SGCN |
Species guidance
A guidance document is not available at this time. Use the information from the other tabs and contact local biologists, as needed, to develop management and avoidance strategies.
Other resources
Links to additional North American Racer information
Other links related to reptiles
Photos/Video
Photos
Click to view a larger version. Please considering donating a photo to the Natural Heritage Conservation Program for educational uses. Photo use
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Racer opaque eyes
Photo by Rich Staffen, WDNR.
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Photo © A.B. Sheldon.
Wildlife Action Plan
Natural community (habitat) associations
The table below lists the natural communities that are associated with North American Racer. Only natural communities for which North American Racer is "high" (score=3) or "moderate" (score=2) associated are shown. See the key to association scores for complete definitions. Please see the Wildlife Action Plan to learn how this information was developed.
| Natural community | Score |
|---|---|
| Dry Prairie | 3 |
| Eastern Red-cedar Thicket | 3 |
| Sand Barrens | 3 |
| Sand Prairie | 3 |
| Dry Cliff | 2 |
| Dry-mesic Prairie | 2 |
| Oak Barrens | 2 |
| Oak Opening | 2 |
| Pine Barrens | 2 |
| Southern Dry Forest | 2 |
| Southern Dry-mesic Forest | 2 |
| Surrogate Grasslands | 2 |
Ecological landscape associations
The table below lists the ecological landscape association scores for North American Racer. The scores correspond to the map (3=High, 2=Moderate, 1=Low, 0=None). For more information, please see the Wildlife Action Plan.
| Ecological landscape | score |
|---|---|
| Southwest Savanna | 3 |
| Western Coulee and Ridges | 3 |
| Central Sand Hills | 2 |
| Central Sand Plains | 2 |
| Southeast Glacial Plains | 2 |
| Western Prairie | 2 |
Landscape-Community combinations of highest ecological priority*
Ecological priorities are the combinations of natural communities and ecological landscapes that provide Wisconsin's best opportunities to conserve important habitats for a given Species of Greatest Conservation Need. The 10 highest scoring combinations are considered ecological priorities and are listed below. More than 10 combinations are listed if multiple combinations tied for 10th place. For more information, please see the Wildlife Action Plan.
* Ecological priority score is a relative measure that is not meant for comparison between species. This score does not consider socio-economical factors that may dictate protection and/or management priorities differently than those determined solely by ecological analysis. Further, a low ecological priority score does not imply that management or preservation should not occur on a site if there are important reasons for doing so locally.
Issues/threats and conservation actions
Conservation actions respond to issues or threats, which adversely affect species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) or their habitats. Besides actions such as restoring wetlands or planting resilient tree species in northern communities, research, surveys and monitoring are also among conservation actions described in the WWAP because lack of information can threaten our ability to successfully preserve and care for natural resources.
