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Wandering Garter Snake

Thamnophis elegans vagrans

Photo by Shawn Wilkes
Published on Project Noah
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50.0429, -125.339

Field Notes

Description:

Fairly long from what I can recall off-hand. Hard to give a ballpark guess, based on the way it moved and being unable to see it fully due to the rocky location, and various grass and plants providing the snake with cover.

Habitat:

It was found in a rocky area beside a small lake, just off of the main trail in a nature park.

Notes:

A rather rare find for me, more often than not I primarily find birds or deer on my outings.

Species ID Suggestions

Garter snake

Thamnophis

Reference Link
drP
1

Wandering Garter Snake

Thamnophis elegans vagrans

Reference Link
NeilDazet
1

Northwestern Garter Snake

Thamnophis ordinoides
pseudacris
1

Comments (6)
pseudacris
Definitely a northwestern garter snake and not a wandering, note that it only has 7 supralabials (scales along the upper mouth), whereas T. elegans has 8. Also not the small head, the black line behind the eye, and no black between the supralabial scales. (I study these guys, and am quite sure)
NeilDazet
The spotting location narrows it down to the Common/Puget Sound Garter Snake, Wandering Garter Snake, and Northwestern Garter Snake. The black dotted pattern identifies this individual as a Wandering Garter Snake, according to the Peterson Field Guide of Western Reptile and Amphibians. Nice spotting!
drP
According to gartersnake.info, there are three species of Thamnophis found in BC. http://www.gartersnake.info/species/canada/british-columbia/
drP
I'm not familiar with the garter snakes of BC, but Thamnophis ordinoides, the Northwestern garter snake is a possibility. It likes edges of woods where it can get some sun. The color pattern is really variable, so there must be some other way to identify the species.
Ashish
Garter or Ribbon Snake http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natricinae http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colubridae

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Reptiles of the World
Mission
Snakes of the World
Mission
BC Forest Diversity
Mission
Life Around Vancouver Island
Photographed
PublishedFebruary 20, 2013

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