Although the racer's most characteristic response to any disturbance is to flee at high speed, certain individuals are inclined to behave aggressively under exceptional circumstances. Records of such aggressive behavior nearly all pertain to large individuals of the northeastern black racer (_C. c. constrictor_) in the breeding season. Cope (1900:794) wrote: "it is courageous and will sometimes attack, moving forward with the head raised from 1 to 2 feet above the ground." Ditmars (1944:13) wrote: "Occasional specimens in the breeding season ... will actually attack ... glide toward an intruder ... striking madly at one's feet or legs." Woods (1944:257) quoted a 13-year-old amateur herpetologist, Leon Gonthier, regarding the latter's encounter with an aggressive black racer on May 7, 1944, as follows: "When I ran toward the snake about 20 feet away, it turned and came for me. As I bent over to catch it, the snake grabbed me by the shirt and hung on ... held it off with a stick. It jumped twice more at me and came clear off the ground." Finneran (1948:124) describing the species' habits in Connecticut, stated: "A farmer ... constantly warned me away from Coon Ledge during the spring, saying the snakes were breeding and would 'chase you.' This very thing happened. In 1943 a blacksnake followed me for approximately ten feet, and, in 1946, a male aggressively attacked me for a period of three minutes. There was ample opportunity for escape." _Natural Enemies_ Little has been published concerning the natural enemies of the common racer. The king snake (_Lampropeltis getulus_) is notorious for ophiphagy, and doubtless preys upon the racer at times. Wright and Bishop (1915:169) wrote of the king snake in Okefinokee Swamp, in Georgia, that "all the smaller snakes suffer, and of the larger species, the blacksnake [racer] and spreading adder are the commonest prey." However, Clark (1949:252) examined 301 stomachs of king snakes of this species in Louisiana and found no racers, although many other kinds of snakes were represented, and, collectively, made up the greater part of the food. A rat snake (_Elaphe obsoleta_) found in Leon County, Florida, on June 10, 1924, had a racer in its stomach, according to the Patuxent food habits file of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A California garter snake (_Thamnophis elegans terrestris_) was found to have a juvenal racer in its stomach (Fitch, 1940:96). A large alligator lizard (_Gerrhonotus multicarinatus_) was found swallowing a small racer that had been confined with it in a bag (Fitch, 1935:12).