Thank you so much for sharing all this information with us!
I for one would rather arm myself with the facts than a gun any day when it comes to snakes. I grew up with lots of water moccasins, but learned about the benefits of having "good snakes" around the home as an adult. Unfortunately...
So now that I am really confused.....are black racers the snakes we have around tampa bay area of FL, that as juvies are kind of mottled and shake their tails like a rattler and will coil and strike at you and as adults are very shiney black and very fast (forget about catching these guys) not...