GARTER SNAKE - LITTLE PEPPERS FIELD GUIDE TO WISCONSIN REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS
If you’ve seen a snake in North America, there is a good chance that it may have looked like this.
In Wisconsin alone, there are five varieties of Garter and Ribbon snakes, and all have a similar look to them, of yellow lines running the length of their dark bodies. Like many snakes, their main response to humans is to glide away in the other direction.
However, if you choose to pick one up, chances are it will bite you in hope that you will let it go. I call these bites defensive, because I initiated the contact, as opposed to aggressive, which would necessitate it attacking me.
Usually, once a wild Garter Snake understands that you are not a threat to it, “the bite” will quickly leave them, and it’s possible to handle it without having them sink its teeth into you. In fact, it is often hard to even catch these snakes, especially on a hot day when they are heated up and super-fast.
@papa-pepper has probably missed more than he has caught in his lifetime.
We have found varieties of Garter Snakes in Wisconsin, Illinois, Arkansas, and Texas… so far.
Many varieties of snakes that look similar to this are endangered or threatened, so always be careful when considering handling wild snakes.
HERE IS THE PAGE FROM OUR FIELD GUIDE
These are a few short videos of wild Garter Snakes!
A TEXAS GARTER SNAKE, UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
LITTLE GARTER SNAKE
UPVOTE-FOLLOW-RESTEEM
That snake in the first video sure did not like the camera!
No, it sure didn't!
The last garter snake I saw was in the downstairs bathtub. It was a pain to catch em without letting em fall down the drain which 'e was hiding in.
The last snake @papa-pepper had in a bathtub was an 8 foot Albino Burmese Python doen in New Orleans! (He couldn't fit down the drain.)
Nice work @pappa-pepper. Even though garter snakes are not overly poisonous it does really hurt when they bite you.
I got bitten in the backwoods of Ontario, Canada by one that we caught.
Stupid tourist huh?
I'm happy to report that I didn't die, although everyone else said I was going to (wishful thinking perhaps) but my thumb hurt like crazy for the rest of the day.
You are not supposed to let them bite you... We should have said that.
i used to see those all the time when i was a kid
They are fun to see!
Thanks again for another nature lesson @little-peppers. I'm learning a lot!
@kus-knee (The Old Dog)
We love to share what we've learned!
One of the picture makes me think about a snake salad... :D
Snake salad? - We've only eaten them deep-fried or grilled...
I have never tried to eat snake... Just got the live octopus tonight, as a matter of strangeness.
@papa-pepper likes octopus.
me too :)
I will post a reply vid of a shot of what I believe to be a 'Gartner' Snake that I took last year...
That sounds cool!
I have accidentally mulched 3 snakes while mowing grass. I try to avoid them, and stop when I see them slithering in the grass, but it seems like they sometimes stick their heads out of their hidey-holes when the mower noise is loudest and meet an unpleasant fate.
They can be hard to avoid with mowers... rest in pieces...
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