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Snake at work!

grankin01

grankin01

Addict and proud of it!
Just thought I would share this. I was relaxing in my car before heading in to work today when someone came up and said look at this snake. My coworkers all know I have and like snakes. I followed them to right beside the main sidewalk and there was about a 3 to 3 1/2 foot garter snake sunning itself. It was a beautiful little snake. One of the other guys tried to pick it up by the tail and it struck at him. After he put it down I picked it up like I do my snakes at home (about 1/3 to 1/2 way down the body) knowing it wasn't venomous. This little guy was so docile. He never struck at me and cruised my hands like my pet snakes do. I was only able to take one picture of him as I was almost late for work when we found him but I think it turned out well.

Anyway, here it is. Enjoy!

IMG_20110810_170442.jpg


I ended up walking about 6 to 8 feet away from the sidewalk and putting him down in the shade next to a concrete pole that has a lamp post mounted to it. I didn't want some idiot killing or hurting him. :(
 
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Looks like it is snake find day, LOL nice find. I have only seen one garter around here in the past years.
 
Ha! good for you. I've only came across two garter in my lifetime.
Now black snakes is different.
 
grankin01 said:
Just thought I would share this. I was relaxing in my car before heading in to work today when someone came up and said look at this snake. My coworkers all know I have and like snakes. I followed them to right beside the main sidewalk and there was about a 3 to 3 1/2 foot garter snake sunning itself. It was a beautiful little snake. One of the other guys tried to pick it up by the tail and it struck at him. After he put it down I picked it up like I do my snakes at home (about 1/3 to 1/2 way down the body) knowing it wasn't venomous. This little guy was so docile. He never struck at me and cruised my hands like my pet snakes do. I was only able to take one picture of him as I was almost late for work when we found him but I think it turned out well.
Click to expand...


Actually, according to wikipedia, garter snakes are indeed venomous! so congratulations on your venomous field find! :laugh:

The reason why I now have 2 corn snakes is because of an "accident" I had trying to save a garter snake from an angry neighbor who found one and wanted to kill it with a shovel. The one I found was not docile at all, and musked me good putting him into a storage tub...

From wikipedia:

Garters were long thought to be nonvenomous, but recent discoveries have revealed that they do in fact produce a mild neurotoxic venom.[3] Garter snakes cannot kill humans with the small amounts of venom they produce, which is comparatively mild, and they also lack an effective means of delivering it. They do have enlarged teeth in the back of their mouth, but their gums are significantly larger.[4][5] Whereas most venomous snakes have anterior or forward venom glands, the Duvernoy's gland of garters are posterior (to the rear) of the snake's eyes.[6] The mild poison is spread into wounds through a chewing action. The properties of the venom are not well known, but it appears to contain 3FTx, commonly known as three-finger toxin, which is a neurotoxin commonly found in the venom of colubrids and elapids. A bite may result in mild swelling and an itching sensation. There are no known cases of serious injury and extremely few with symptoms of envenomation.
 
Oh wow! Thanks for the info. I (as I guess most still do) would have bet on them not being venomous. At any rate, it made coming to work worth it today. :D

Obviously I am still learning as I go. :)
 
I think the gist is that life should go on as if they are non venomous - their venom is not very effective on humans, and they have to chew on you for a while to administer it - so that is probably why it has taken so long to figure out that they are indeed a "venomous" snake.

I just like it because now I can say I have handled a venomous snake :laugh:
 
Yeah, definitely. :rofl: I read the Wiki you got the excerpt from and learned that they also birth their young live like Boas. Very interesting read. :)
 
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