Gartersnake.info

Why Do Garter Snake Keepers Like Garter Snakes?

2013-05-31T16:21:32Z

Earlier this year I explored some of the reasons why garter snakes are underrated and overlooked by reptile keepers. Those reasons included their ordinariness, their messiness, and their (supposed) unwillingness to eat mice, all of which I shot down with extreme prejudice.

Some of us, though, like garter snakes very much. I certainly do, or I wouldn't have built this website; in fact, I think that garter snakes, for all their ordinariness and stinkiness, are my favourite snakes of all. (And that's saying something: I'm fond of an awful lot of snakes, including bullsnakes, fox snakes, rosy boas and a whole bunch of others.) Since you're reading this, I suspect you might be fond of them too.

In this article, I'd like to explore some of the reasons why those of us who like garter snakes like them as much as we do -- and why reptile keepers choose garter snakes over other kinds of snakes.

]]>

Read the rest of this entry.

Wisconsin De-Lists Butler's Garter Snake

2013-05-30T20:21:11Z

Last week, in a controversial but long-expected move, Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources removed the Butler's Garter Snake from the state's list of endangered and protected species, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports (mirror). The Board voted 7-0 to remove the garter snake, the Blanding's Turtle and several other plant and animal species, while eight other animal species were added to the list. But the garter snake and turtle decisions are generating the most controversy.

Previously: Butler's Garter Snake to Lose Protected Status in Wisconsin.

Federal Charges for Bringing Garter Snakes to Alaska

2013-05-10T13:06:58Z

While fighting fires in Idaho last summer, Fairbanks resident Matthew Mayo and his pals fooled around with the local snakes and lizards in their downtime, because they didn't have that kind of wildlife back in Alaska. When it came time to go back home, Mayo took a few garter snakes with him on the plane. That's where his trouble began: while it's legal to keep non-native, non-venomous wildlife in Alaska, you need a permit to collect reptiles in Idaho, which means that once Mayo brought the snakes across a state line, he violated the Lacey Act. It didn't help that a few snakes got loose on the plane. The authorities, including a rather zealous federal prosecutor, got involved and he was facing up to $100,000 in fines and a year in jail, but he's taking a plea bargain and will instead pay a $500 fine.

Garter Snakes in the Yard

2013-04-26T14:21:04Z

In this short video, Dennis Ferraro of the University of Nebraska--Lincoln's extension program offers some advice for people who don't want garter snakes on their property. (Strange people, I know.) Basically, mow your lawn and keep your yard clutter-free.

Garter Snakes Emerge in Saskatchewan Hospital

2013-04-21T19:51:17Z

About half a dozen garter snakes have turned up in the hospital in Herbert, Saskatchewan, a small town of between 700 and 800 people about 200 km west of Regina, the Canadian Press reports (Regina Leader-Post, Toronto Star). The snakes were using a crawlspace under the hospital as their hibernation site; another hundred were caught in traps underneath the building. Staff have sealed off the crawlspace and will snake-proof the hospital before the fall. I'm delighted to hear that no snake massacres are planned. (Update: CBC News coverage.)

Springtime for Garter Snakes, 2013 Edition

2013-04-19T12:28:46Z

I know it's spring because the garter snakes are out. Once again, I've assembled a gallery of photos on Flickr showing this spring's emergence of our favourite reptile. It's still a work in progress: it's still mid-April, I'm still looking for new ones, and it's quite possible that the best photo of the spring hasn't been taken yet. Anyway, see what I've found so far.

Previously: Spring Photos of Garter Snakes, 2010 Edition; Garter Snakes in Spring.

What Does Male Courtship Behaviour Look Like?

2013-03-23T17:56:07Z

This brief video shows a mating pair of Santa Cruz Garter Snakes (Thamnophis atratus) owned by John Campbell, and is an excellent example of the early phases of male courtship behaviour. If your male garter snake is doing this he is most certainly in the mood. One of my own males would do this for weeks before actual mating.

Butler's Garter Snake to Lose Protected Status in Wisconsin

2013-03-05T17:53:29Z

"The Butler's garter snake is among 16 birds, plants and other animals recommended for removal from the list of endangered or threatened species" by Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources, the Capital Times reports. The Butler's Garter Snake's presence on prime development land has been a thorn in the side of real estate developers in Wisconsin for years; in 2006 Republican legislators tried to have it removed from the list, but that attempt was later called off. The DNR now says the population is stable and abundant enough for the snake to be de-listed, but not everyone agrees.

New Research into Prey Recognition

2013-02-19T11:42:28Z

A paper published in PLOS ONE last year explores the role that proteins called parvalbumins, found in the skin mucous of several amphibian and fish species, play in chemosensory prey detection among two garter snakes (Checkered and Common) and one water snake. "We show that these parvalbumins are chemoattractive for three different thamnophiine snakes, suggesting that these chemicals play a key role in their prey-recognition mechanism. Therefore, we suggest that recognition of parvalbumin-like proteins or other calcium-binding proteins [...] could be a generalized prey-recognition process in snakes."

New Study Splits Off Mexican Narrow-headed Garters into New Species

2013-01-18T22:41:10Z

A 2011 research paper published in Molecular Biology concludes, based on genetic evidence, that the Mexican populations of Narrow-headed Garter Snakes represent distinct evolutionary lineages -- that is to say, separate species. Populations in southwestern Durango had already been classed as a separate species (the Southern Durango Spotted Garter Snake) on morphological grounds in 1995; this study affirms that conclusion. But it also moves the remaining Mexican populations of Narrow-headed Garter Snake into a new species: the Madrean Narrow-headed Garter Snake, Thamnophis unilabialis. This leaves Arizona and New Mexico as the only place where Narrow-headed Garter Snakes (in the new, more limited sense) may be found. It's in trouble in both states.

Updates to Species and State Pages

2013-01-18T22:34:26Z

Species pages for the Southern Durango Spotted Garter Snake and the Narrow-headed Garter Snake have received substantial updates. So have the state pages for Arizona and New Mexico, which add native garter snakes' legal status. And I've created a page for a newly described species, the Madrean Narrow-headed Garter Snake. This is all in response to a 2011 study splitting the Mexican populations of the Narrow-headed Garter Snake into separate species.

Why Don't Reptile Keepers Appreciate Garter Snakes?

2013-01-09T23:44:09Z

The question came up on the Facebook Garter Snake group last month: why are garter snakes underrated and overlooked by reptile keepers?

Snakes aren't necessarily the most popular of animals, but even among reptile keepers, garter snakes aren't terribly popular. It's not that serious reptile keepers are openly disdainful of them; they just don't seem to be all that interested in them. Go to any reptile expo and you'll see table after table filled with ball pythons, leopard geckos and other popular species; chances are you'll be hard pressed to find any garter snakes.

]]>

Read the rest of this entry.

Sarnia Asked to Take in Butler's Garters

2012-12-10T12:37:26Z

City councillors in Sarnia, Ontario are being asked to take in a population of Butler's Garter Snakes from the neighbouring village of Point Edward, the Sarnia Observer reports. The snakes, endangered in Ontario, were found on land slated for redevelopment; the province's Ministry of Natural Resources is recommending that the snakes be relocated to nearby Cantara Park in Sarnia.

Golfers and Garter Snakes to Share Sharp Park

2012-12-10T12:26:27Z

The long-running dispute over Sharp Park (see previous entry), a golf course in Pacifica owned by the city of San Francisco that is home to the endangered San Francisco Garter Snake and California Red-legged Frog, was settled by a federal judge last week: U.S. District Judge Susan dismissed environmental groups' lawsuit after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that golfers and wildlife could coexist. The course will be reconfigured and be subject to certain restrictions in order to accomodate the frogs and snakes.

Newfoundland Garter Snake Population Persisting

2012-10-09T12:50:29Z

Garter snakes found on the southwest coast of Newfoundland may be there to stay, a provincial ecologist tells the Telegram, possibly thanks to milder than normal winters. The province of Newfoundland and Labrador has no native snakes; it's presumed these snakes were introduced inadvertently as stowaways on cargo.

Previously: Newfoundland Garter Snakes.