northeast-flora-and-fauna

Here's an Eastern Garter Snake I encountered in May. Though it's possible to see quite a few Northern Watersnakes if you live near water, the Eastern Garter Snake is probably the most encountered snake in New Jersey, Connecticut, and probably most of the northeast. They get their name from garters , bands used primarily to hold up socks/stockings, presumably by someone who thought these striped snakes resembled some striped garters they saw/owned. Though I thought the term Garter Snake referred to a single species, it appears that both the Common Garter Snake (of which the Eastern Garter Snake is a subspecies) and the very similar looking Ribbon Snake are both snakes in my area that are in the genus that comprises the Garter Snakes. This video says that I've got a Common Garter Snake rather than a Ribbon Snake because of stripes under the mouth in my snake. Another good video for Garter Snake fans is here . Although you should consider Garter Snakes to be harmless, th...

Here's a (no doubt young) Eastern Garter Snake I met last month. They are considered one of our most common snakes.  When working at Nokia, I would see them fairly frequently. Unfortunately they liked to sun themselves in the parking lot where there was a fairly high chance of getting run over. I'd try and scare them off the asphalt, though I suspect they'd return there after I was gone. (They understood they needed to warm up but didn't understand the dangers of vehicles.) I'm afraid I scared this individual who was sunning itself on the top of some greenery but slithered someplace safer when my camera and I came by. It ultimately swam into a hiding place in the water. I know they can't breathe in water, though they probably can stay underwater for at least a couple minutes. And it's possible there was an air pocket in it's hiding space. Although they're in a different genus, the Garter Snakes are considered to be closely related to the water snak...