Snake in the Grass - SteemitPhotoChallenge Entry 2 - SPC 29 - with ID info and 6 more photos
What's that in the grass? It's a Red-spotted Garter Snake. Come into my post and get to know this beautiful snake.
I am only entering this photo in the challenge. Details: SONY RX10, f5, 1/80 sec, ISO 500, 31mm What kind of snake is this? It's a type of Garter Snake. Garter snakes are the most widespread kind of snake in North America, but there a lot of different species -- and within each kind, there can be several sub-species. This gorgeous snake is a sub-species of the Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis), the Red-spotted Garter Snake (T.S. concinnus).
When I find a snake, I like to relate to it on its terms. In this case, that meant getting down on the ground and peering through the grass. It had its head raised up about 5 inches, so it could see over the grass. Follow the stripe on its back all the to the left - all that is lifted off the ground and it was completely still for the entire time I watched it. That's some core strength and body control!
It's easy to catch Garter Snakes. They generally are not aggressive if they're handled with a loose touch - gloves are not needed! There are a lot of garter snakes that live here at Haphazard Homestead. But I would rather let them go about their business rather than bother them. Garter snakes help me out! They eat slugs, which really great since slugs can be a major garden pest. And they eat mice, too, which is good because I let a lot of my grass set seed, so I have field mice around!
This little Garter Snake is probably less than a month old. They are born live - not from eggs like most snakes - usually in July or August in my yard. I see a lot of these little snakes then! In Oregon, the Red-spotted Garter Snake is only found in the Willamette Valley, where I live. They aren't the most common Garter Snake that I find. But they are the most colorful! They don't have stripes on their sides, like most Common Garter Snakes. The cream-colored stripe along their back, the red side patches on a black background, and their red head, are distinctive.
This one was sunning itself a gravel road, not going anywhere. As long as I moved slowly and didn't threaten it, it was content to stay stretched out and unconcerned. It let me get pretty close, too. Life's too short and dangerous for a snake already. Why disturb it? I left it lying in the summer sun, soaking up the heat. That's a contented snake!
What Do You Think?
Do you like snakes? What snakes have you seen where you live? What's the most colorful snake you have ever seen? I really would like to know!
Sources: Living with WIldlife - Snakes, Oregon Dept. Wildlife and Alan St. John, Reptiles of the Northwest, Lone Pine Publishing, 2002.
** Haphazard Homestead **
*** foraging, gardening, nature, simple living close to the land ***
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*** foraging, gardening, nature, simple living close to the land ***
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Beautiful snake photos, of a beautiful snake. Thanks for taking such great photos of a local helper. They are SO valuable, and fun to photograph. Thanks for sharing.
Glad you liked these snakes. I hope you get to see some garter snakes sometime!
Great photos!
Thanks!
Belle!
Thanks!
Wow... Did you take the pics really from a short distance? Without zoom?
That's so brave..... respect!
Very beautiful pictures indeed... upvoted
Glad you enjoyed my snakes! I don't have a telephoto lens on this camera, so I have to get pretty close, lol. These Garter snakes are not aggressive, so I enjoy getting down on their level. I don't get within 1 or 2 inches, though! ; )
Beautiful pics!
Thanks! These are such gentle snakes, out in the grass.
Saw and caught many as a kid. Even tried putting a few in a screen-covered fish tank. It was all well and good until one of them escaped and my Mom found it mixed in with the dirty laundry 😬 Like you state, best to just admire them and let them be!!!
Haha. Moms put up with a lot! I bet that gave her a startle! :O
I secretly kept two Mud Turtles in my underwear drawer for a few weeks. That did not end well! The turtles survived, though. I didn't think I would.
Those are some beautiful snakes! We have a ton of common Garter snakes here. Bull Snakes are very common, too. They are not venomous, but are highly aggressive. Although I haven't seen a Rattle Snake here in Iowa, they are around but are highly reclusive.
These Red-spotted Garter Snakes always catch me by surprise with their bright colors. They are so pretty. We have other ones, but not near so colorful. Garter snakes must be the most common snake around! That's neat you have Bull Snakes, even if they are aggressive. We had a lot of them in Kansas where I grew up. They are so "snake-y", a real snake's snake. Poor rattlesnakes. They have to be reclusive these days. Tough being a poisonous snake around people!
We actually had a small Bull Snake in our house last summer. We kept hearing one of the cats playing with something. We saw that it was a Bull Snake, so I took it outside to let it go. I actually had a cat that used to hang around my garage that hunted snakes. He killed them and left them to rot on the garage floor.
I bet that Bull Snake in the house gave you a start! Some cats are such dedicated snake hunters. I had a cat that was great at bringing me live garter snakes. In our wet winters, the snakes are gone, but nightcrawlers come out. Then she would bring me big nightcrawlers, but with such a sense of disgust with them and their worm slime. They were a poor substitute for a dry, tidy snake.
You could have kept the worms for fishing bait.
haha -- In the winter, we get a lot of rain. I can go outside and hear the water draining through the big holes of the nightcrawlers. It's pretty amazing. And in the winter, they are all through my older compost bins. In the summer, they go down more than 6 feet. Only the little wigglers are left near the surface, where there's moisture. Nightcrawlers are interesting creatures. And yes, I should go fishing! :D