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Glad I had my camera

BeckyG

BeckyG

Making it up as I go
So I was in my yard picking flowers, and was surprised by this little beauty.

garter1.jpg


It is some sort of garter snake, but I'm not sure what species, maybe a checkered garter.

garter2.jpg


I'd estimate it was roughly two feet long and about as big around as a quarter.

garter3.jpg


It appeared to have an old injury on it's back. I bothered it long enough to get these pics, then let it go on its merry way.

When I went back into the house and told my son, he said, "MOM!!! Why didn't you get it?!" A true herper in the making.
 
Lucky You! I ran around the yard today when I got home from work. I've been itching to play with my new hook. Caught a piece of garden hose and a bunch of sticks.... Well, it's practice right? :grin01:
 
Ooo...pretty Garter! It's been ages since I've seen one around these parts.

Very nice shots indeed. =D
 
wow very nice snake! its always exciting to see them out and about! very luck you had your camera
 
Great looking garter! I would guess it is a common garter snake. Checkereds are generally found in Texas. It has nice light red coloring too.

Joanna
 
It's not a checkered for sure - no golden crescents on the jaw. I think it's either a red-sided garter, or a wandering garter, but I'm really not sure. Nice pictures!
 
Thanks everybody for the compliments. Funny thing is, I don't usually carry my camera around. Maybe I ought to. I was cleaning out my car, and the camera was in it. I decided to take pics of the daffodils before picking them. When I got done, I stuck the camera in my pocket. Good thing, too!

Yes, it was a bit miffed. It struck at me several times, but I never got close enough for it to tag me.
 
lovely lil thing ^__^
been a while since i saw a garter around here, whenever i was up in mitchigan i could flip one board and find about three, i found a pregnant one too tho i didn;t know she was till i had a lil snake plop down on my lap, i let her go after that so she could finnish in peace.
 
Thank you Greeling. I caught a pregnant DeKay's brown snake one time and didn't know it. I woke up the next morning and there were thousands of babies in her viv. OK, really there were probably only 20-25, but it seemed like thousands. I let the mom and most of the babies go right away, and kept a few just a couple of weeks longer before letting them go.

I think I have finally identified my little garter as a Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis, or Eastern Garter Snake. Of the other species mentioned, including my own initial guess of checkered garter, none were native to this area. It's always exciting to me to find a snake in the wild. :dancer:
 
Cool! I woke up this morning thinking, "I bet her garter is an eastern, since they look kinda like checkered's and she's in Mississippi." (Well I thought about George Clooney first.) :eek: Then I checked the thread, and lo and behold, you figured that out already. :cheers:
 
cool pics. used to find garters as a kid but not anymore. apt has a lake with decent habitat on one side and last year was the first time I've seen garters in 8 yrs. Soon as I picked up the board they took off into the wood pile.
 
nice snake. I love looking for wild ones.

Greeling - it is kind of weird, there are a lot of garters up here, i usually find them around our cabin up north. unfotunently Michigan isn't a great herping state.
 
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