Blue Racer

Blue Racer Earl Plato
It finally arrived this December day, my Blue Racer! Now wait a second - I’m talking about a shirt with that famed snake of Pelee Island embossed on it. Thanks to Ben Porchuck, an authority on this endangered reptile, I finally received my neat shirt.
We had travelled to Pelee Island last summer. It’s our most southern inhabited island and on the same latitude as Northern California! This is Carolinian country. Sound familiar? Besides other nature phenomena I wanted too see the elusive Blue Racer. I did. In the local Pelee Island museum (worth the visit) I saw my snake. Six feet plus long behind a glassed show case was a dead Blue Racer snake. However, I saw two eastern water snakes while walking on the east coast road but that’s another story.
Ben Porchuck tells us that like all snakes that are of course cold-blooded reptiles, the Blue racers are dependent upon external heat sources. When hibernating on Pelee where winters can vary greatly the snake must find nesting sites in open areas where there is a southern exposure. Why? The sun’s warmth allow the snakes to heat up more quickly from these locations. Porchuck’s map from his article shows the main area of his sightings of this rare reptile. We spent a little time walking in the main Blue racer area.
Ben shares these facts: Racers are faster than almost all North American snakes. Example: A Blue racer can travel just under seven kilometres per hour. Thanks goodness the rattlesnake moves three km per hour. I would say that our Massasaugua rattler is even slower. Ben Porchuck tells us that furthermore racers seem fast because “Their wide lateral undulatory mode of locomotion is extremely difficult for a pursuer to follow. This I want to experience.
The Winter Seasons magazine of 1995 has Ben Porchuck’s great article on the Blue racer. This year I’m taking my car to the island. Wish me luck. I want to see the real thing.