Black snake in shrubs-Dangerous?
 

I disturbed a 4 ft. long, all black snake while trimming my shrubs, it slithered away & hid in another shrub. Does anyone know what kind it might be, or if it is dangerous?

Probaby a black racer, not poisonous.

Nonvenomous snakes

Probably a black racer. I have run into them before in the Villages and elsewhere in Central FL. If you give it room to move and do not corner it, it usually will not bite but try to get away. They eat rodents so there good to have around. http://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/colcon.htm

Wildlife in The Villages.........including snakes.
http://www.districtgov.org/community...on-BDA2010.pdf

99.9% it is a black snake...your friend...eat many other pests you do not want around.

Do not kill it or any other snakes.

btk

probable certaintity leads to it being a black racer. Totally harmless and they do eat mice and rats.

Once when I was giving a snake demonstration to a group of second grade students at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, I was handfeeding a dead mouse (microwaved to approximate living temperature) to a black racer. The snake was eating the mouse and I was engrossed in my own comments to the kids. Before I knew what was happening, the 5 foot snake had consumed the mouse as well as my thumb that was holding the mouse. Snake teeth are curved backward so I had quite a time releasing my thumb without hurting the snake. The school kids thought it was a great ending to the show.

Yikes! I suspect it makes hitchhiking more difficult.