When I got home today I saw this long black creature dash past my front door into the woods. It was a snake but it went by so fast I couldn’t positively I.D. it, any ideas?
I live in central florida.
My guess is that it was a black racer, a snake that is aptly named: they go by mighty fast.
You live in Gainesville and this is your first snake? Didja just move there? 
I’d guess you saw a blacksnake , evidently properly called a “Southern black racer”.
Not much to go on, but if it truly was speedy, perhaps it was a Southern Black Racer.
Interesting simulpost.
Here’s another link from a snake trapper, which says:
Definitely a baby black anaconda or perhaps the rare Black Florida Cobra. More mundane possibilities include a lost Water Moccasin (Cottonmouth), the only aggressive and confrontational poisonous snake in North America.
It was probably a Northern White Crawler.
Well, maybe not. 
Gosh, why are the answers coming so slow around here lately? Between this and the Judaism thread…
Anyway, as unbelievable as it is that no one has mentioned it, I would guess it may have been a black racer.
I don’t have any idea what kind of snake it was (although I’m gonna take a WAG and say it might have been a black racer). But what really caught my eye on this post was the “See ‘Black Snake Moan’” ad from reelzchannel.com that Google provided.
Definitely wasn’t a slow white northern racer. 
I have never been to Florida. My father was born there though.
Based on the description of the snake’s speed and color, it could not possibly have been a Southern Black Racer. It might have been a cross between a black racer and a black cobra; they often speed ahead of their intended victim and establish an ambush. Be very careful when you next venture outside. I recommend you wear steel leggings and walk on stilts.
Nah, couldn’t have been. He said he’s in Florida, not the Marianas Trench.
Odd that someone with the username gatorman can’t identify a native snake.
It wasn’t you, was it gatorman, that effed up a couple of years ago and put the picture of a CROCODILE on the cover of the Florida Gator’s magazine?
While a black racer is the most likely candidate for what you saw, it is also possible that you saw an eastern indigo snake , which is also large, black, diurnal, and found in your area.
I was unclear from your OP, which described the animal “dashing.” If it was rolling like a hoop with its tail in its mouth, you may have glimpsed the rare - and dangerous - hoop snake.
Haha, not being able to tell the difference between a croc and a gator is pushing it way too much. I’m an urban gator, but still very much a gator. Speaking of which, there’s nothing like knowing you went to the best university in the universe, the University of Florida.
Yep, black runner it is. I was just kind of stunned to see the freakin’ snake race right in front of me as i was going to walk thru my front door, thats all.
Hoop snakes are only dangerous on hills where they can gain a big speed advantage over even the fastest humans. There are people in my hometown that wear they have been terrorized by hoop snakes.
The Black Florida Cobra isn’t that rare. Maybe the OP has heard of it by its more common local name, the taintbiter. So named for its habit of nesting in toilet bowls and, well, biting your taint.
Which way does your house face? If it’s south then you’ll probably only see the northern black runner out your back door. If it’s north, then you’ll likely be witnessing the southern black runner, unless of course you’ve walked around the house or are drinking iced tea. Either way though, a black runner.
Are you moving to Mississippi anytime soon? I just wanted to warn you about the plaid loper. Alabamans have named it the snake most likely to freak people out.
I’ve always wondered how they get back up the hill after rolling down it. Maybe one of your terror stricken neighbors can tell us.