Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis Sirtalis Sirtalis)

- No description given -

comments (8)

Claire Hamilton

Lion

Very well spotted Joe! Posted 10 years ago

Ferdy Christant

Lion

That is indeed some exceptional spotting! Did you hear it move? Posted 10 years ago
1. Joe Spandrusyszyn
  
  Lion
  
  It was hard to miss this time... I nearly stepped on it! Probably scared it half to death. It slithered away under a nearby log as fast as it could, making lots of noise in all the freshly fallen leaves. It stayed there staring at my wife and me, moving around in the leaves a little, letting me snap a few shots before we moved on. Posted 10 years ago
2. 1. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    Ah, the tested way to find a snake! Posted 10 years ago

TristanV

Lion

Juts curious, is this a Ribbon snake or a Garter snake (Thamnophis Sirtalis)? I've had plenty experience with garters in the midwest but never encountered a ribbon snake. Just from first glance it looks to have characteristics of a Garter snake . Posted 10 years ago, modified 10 years ago
1. Joe Spandrusyszyn
  
  Lion
  
  They both look nearly identical, so it might be a common garter... It seemed thin, and the lines more vibrant than I remember seeing in common garters, but neither of those aspects are different enough between the two species to be confident without seeing two side by side.
  
  It looks like it has a white spot in front of the eyes though, which would mark it as a ribbon, but it's hard to tell from this angle. I'll try to remember to dig through my other photos of it again tomorrow and see if I got a shot that shows the side of the face better, but it was watching me pretty closely so I think all my shots were straight on. Posted 10 years ago
2. 1. Joe Spandrusyszyn
    
    Lion
    
    Found a shot with the side of the face visible enough to see no white spot, and black lines under the mouth.
    http://www.jungledragon.com/image/23077
    Common Garter Snake it is! Time to fix the species ID!
    
    Now I just need find an actual ribbon snake to get back that species intro... Posted 10 years ago
  2. 1. TristanV
      
      Lion
      
      Yeah I would love to see some of them up here! next year I suppose Posted 10 years ago