coast garter snake
Thamnophis elegans terrestris
(ssp. of western terrestrial garter snake)
Thamnophis elegans terrestris
(ssp. of western terrestrial garter snake)
I don't know how to sex snakes, but I'm calling it a she. She was
quick and sought refuge in the pond, but a long-legged herp fellow was
quicker on his feet. We thought the two red dots on her head were a
nice addition to a very pretty little snake.
edited 04/01/14 - Thanks to Cindy's comment, I revised the ID from Santa Cruz garter snake (Thamnophis atratus atratus) to best guess a ssp. of the western terrestrial garter snake, the coast. All 3 ssp. of aquatic garter snakes (T. atratus) do not have any red on their sides like this one clearly shows. Doh!
edited 04/01/14 - Thanks to Cindy's comment, I revised the ID from Santa Cruz garter snake (Thamnophis atratus atratus) to best guess a ssp. of the western terrestrial garter snake, the coast. All 3 ssp. of aquatic garter snakes (T. atratus) do not have any red on their sides like this one clearly shows. Doh!
The other possibility would be one of the common garter snakes (T. sirtalis). While Cindy says CA red-sided (T. sirtalis infernalis), I lean towards valley (T. sirtalis fitchi). Look at this picture and tell me it doesn't look the same with that large eye and black wedges? Well, okay, the individual shown above has 8 labial palps (typ. of western terrestrial, elegans), rather than only 7 (typ. of common, sirtalis), but that's apparently not 100% diagnostic. Plus, neither T. sirtalis ssp. is supposed to be found in this area of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and we're confident, somehow, that this is not the endangered San Francisco garter snake (T. sirtalis tetrataenia). Confused, yet? Join the club!
For a handy-dandy key to CA garter snakes, check out CA Herps. And, for a brief summary of the confusion around garter snakes (with links) check out my CA red-sided post from Fort Ord.
