Description: The eastern yellow-bellied racer is a thin-bodied snake, capable of attaining a total length of 60 inches. As an adult, its color is an olive grey-green with a yellow underside. As a juvenile it is remarkably different, having a tan or cream-colored body with brown or grey blotches. The color gradually changes as the snake ages, becoming solid olive grey-green. Authors disagree as to when this transformation is complete, from 1½ to three years old, and from 18 to 30 inches in total length.

Habitat: grasslands, brushlands and woodlands.

Range: The eastern yellow-bellied racer is found in the United States, from the states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, east to Iowa, south to Texas and southeast to Louisiana. It is also found in isolated populations in Canada.

Found in these States: AR | CO | IA | | KS | LA | MN | MO | MT | ND | NE | NM | OK | SD | TX | WY

Diet: They generally eat rodents, lizards and frogs, but as juveniles they will also consume various kinds of soft-bodied insects.

Reproduction: Mating takes place in the spring, from April until early June. Around a month later the female will lay anywhere from 3 to 30 eggs in a hidden nest site such as a hollow log, an abandoned rodent burrow, or under a rock. The juveniles hatch in the early fall. A newborn is 8-10 inches in total length. Maturity is reached in approximately 2 years

Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, tolerance of a broad range of habitats, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.

Coluber constrictor flaviventris is listed as an endangered species in the province of Saskatchewan.

Taxonomy: