Garter Snake (Striking Pose) by pauljs75

Photography • Animals • posted on Apr 21, 2011

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Description

Saw this at Illinois State Beach Park while going for a hike today. Temperatures were in the low 50°F range, and small critters started waking up from their winter hibernation. This snake was just sunning itself on the trail, before getting a little agitated when I got closer. Not poisonous or anything like that, but it does have itty bitty teeth which may be enough to give an infection. Some are even docile enough to be handled, but not this one. They live off of insects, small frogs (plenty of itty-bitty leopard frogs were chirping nearby, but they tend to hide very well), and small minnows. (And I'm sure there's plenty of those in the surrounding wetland. At one point my sister owned a garter snake and all it would eat was fish.)

Comments (7)

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lonely_wolf

3:20PM | Thu, 21 April 2011

She is a beauty! Great shot and infos! Thank you for sharing!

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Bossie_Boots

5:46PM | Thu, 21 April 2011

Thanks for the info superb capture !!

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brewgirlca

6:07PM | Thu, 21 April 2011

I had a garter snake as a pet too, and like your sister's it would only eat fish, bits of salmon to be specific.

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LovelyPoetess

9:53PM | Thu, 21 April 2011

Nicely seen and captured, I've not yet seen one this year. Soon I hope... : )

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Luc2

11:52AM | Sat, 23 April 2011

Nice shot! Many years ago I catch a big fat garter snake in Quebec, I put it in a nice terrarium. Nearly a month after I catch it, one morning, I saw around 40 little snakes the size of medium earthworm, they are all over the place but mostly on the side of the mother. For the next 9 months each day or 2, to be sure each of them have it share of food, I put them in separated container and feed them, at the beginning the only thing they can eat was really small worm or piece of worm. After 9 month they triple in size, but 9 of them died. After they get bigger they eat the same thing as the mother; big earthworm and goldfish or minnow, each 2 weeks I injected a mix of vitamins and calcium lactate in there food. I a nice day of June I find a nice and big pile of rocks near a pound, deep in wood and released the mother and all it young. I return to that place 3 years later and saw 2 snakes in the same afternoon, may be the ones I saw born or there offspring...;-)

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