The belly may be yellow, cream or light blue-gray. Racers prefer bushy fields, grasslands and open woods. This species is active by day and will take shelter under rocks, brush or in animal burrows if pursued. As the name implies, racers can move fast, especially through tall grass or brush. As with many of our harmless snakes, a racer sometimes will vibrate its tail when alarmed.
Food includes frogs, lizards.
Statewide, replaced by the southern black racera subspeciesin the southeastern corner. This is Missouri's smallest snake. General color is tan, graybrown or reddishbrown. The head sometimes is slightly darker than the rest of the body or is black, and the belly is salmon pink. It is most likely to be under rocks where there is slightly moist soil, and southfacing, rocky wooded hillsides are its preferred habitat.