I did a three day weekend trip to a State Park in Northwest Ohio. I was on a quest for something I've never seen in the wild before: An all-black Eastern Garter Snake. It only took a few minutes to find my quarry.
The following day I found this "standard" looking Eastern Garter, though its dorsal stripe was quite narrow and its reddish-orange eyes were pretty cool.
The place where I was at has boardwalks and bridges that went over marshy areas. Looking off the side of a bridge, I saw this:
The Northern Water Snake turned out to be the only non-garter snake found on the trip.
There were other herps, though, like Bullfrogs, Green Frogs and Painted Turtles. I also saw a pretty decent number of Leopard Frogs.
This little garter didn't have the best disposition.
A second black garter "as found."
Not every snake wants a close-up photo taken of it.
Perhaps the most interesting Garter Snake behavior that was observed was this one spotted off the side of a boardwalk, 4 feet up in a tree.
It was a pretty good time, if you like Garter Snakes (which I do)!

The following day I found this "standard" looking Eastern Garter, though its dorsal stripe was quite narrow and its reddish-orange eyes were pretty cool.

The place where I was at has boardwalks and bridges that went over marshy areas. Looking off the side of a bridge, I saw this:

The Northern Water Snake turned out to be the only non-garter snake found on the trip.

There were other herps, though, like Bullfrogs, Green Frogs and Painted Turtles. I also saw a pretty decent number of Leopard Frogs.

This little garter didn't have the best disposition.

A second black garter "as found."

Not every snake wants a close-up photo taken of it.

Perhaps the most interesting Garter Snake behavior that was observed was this one spotted off the side of a boardwalk, 4 feet up in a tree.

It was a pretty good time, if you like Garter Snakes (which I do)!
