Natural History of the Racer Coluber constrictor — John Shaqi
Natural History of the Racer Coluber constrictorFitch, Henry S. (Henry Sheldon)
Science
Natural History of the Racer Coluber constrictor
Fitch, Henry S. (Henry Sheldon)
Racer snake
Blue racers that were recorded on more than one occasion were rarely
caught again at the original location. For different individuals,
distances between capture points ranged from zero up to a little more
than three-fourths of a mile. The area of concentrated study was a
mile and a half in greatest diameter; there was scant opportunity for
capturing racers that moved greater distances. Even those that moved
as far as a mile would have passed beyond the boundaries of the study
area in most instances. Many of the marked racers that disappeared
from my records probably moved beyond the limits of the study area.
Nevertheless, in the great majority of instances, the distances
between successive capture points for the same individual were
relatively short, indicating that each racer tends to remain
permanently in a restricted area.
Most captures were made in the type of grassland or brush that
provides favorable habitat for the racer during the season of
activity, but many other captures were made in woodland along the
rock ledges where the snakes come to hibernate. Four different types
of movement may be recognized: 1) those in the rock ledge area where
hibernation occurs; 2) those between the area where the summer is
spent and the hibernation ledge--an actual small scale seasonal
migration which takes place in spring and autumn--3) those within a
home range, which are part of the day-to-day activities of the racer,
and, 4) wandering movements by which the racer shifts its activities,
perhaps permanently, from one area to another. In the records of any
one snake these different types of movements cannot always be sorted
with certainty. Each type will be discussed separately.
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