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Puget Sound Garter Snake
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- Order: Squamata (scaled reptiles)
- Suborder: Serpentes (=Ophidia) (snakes)
- Family: Colubridae (typical snakes)
- Subfamily: Natricinae (water, garter, and
related snakes)
- Genus: Thamnophis (garter and ribbon
snakes)
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| Also Known As:
"garden snake" (obvious miscommunication of
"garter") |
Scientific Name: Thamnophis
sirtalis pickeringii (Baird & Girard, 1853) |
| Habitat: Areas near
water--damp woods, fields, etc. |
Thamnos="bush," ophis="snake,"
sirtalis="like a garter," pickeringii in
honor of naturalist Charles Pickering
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| Length: To 52 inches. |
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| Food: Earthworms,
frogs, toads, and sometimes fish and small mammals. |
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| The common garter snake, Thamnophis
sirtalis, is a widespread species with at least 12
subspecies. This subspecies, the Puget Sound Garter Snake,
is found in western Washington into adjacent Canada. A
friend found this specimen near an old wooden pallet we were
moving shortly after we found the alligator
lizard. It was roughly 2 feet long, most likely a
female, with beautiful striping. It had sky blue ventral (lower)
surfaces on the head and front half of the body, turning to dark
gray towards the tail. After taking some video I released it
near some rotting stumps about 100 feet from where we found it. |
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| This picture didn't turn out as
well as I'd like, but it is supposed to show the ventral
coloration. |
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