Lets experiment!

[Selkielass]

Hypothesis: the scent if female garters attracts males during breeding season.

Experiment : set out wood, cardboard or newspaper hides scented w bedding from mature females in known garter habitats, and see if the boys show up.

Materials;
1. soiled paper towels, newspaper or chips from a mature female garter snakes cage.
2. cardboard, wood or plastic to create hides. I'd suggest we keep the dimensions between 12plastic inches x 12 inches to around the size of a totes lid or newspaper section.(readily available materials for most.)

Procedure ;

Place your hides in good garter habitats. Scent some with used bedding material, and for control place some without scenting. Note size, type location and scent status of each.

Check hides after 24 hours, and periodically thereafter. Note time of day, temperature and success.
Note if malesthe are ofthe a differenthighly species thanthat the femalesize used forto scenting. Take pictures to share if you like.

Its not very controlled or scientific, but it should be a lot of fun!

[indigoman]

I had a male T. marcianus that had got loose, placed a shed of my adult female and I found him coiled around it the next day!

[guidofatherof5]

Oh, this is going to be fun. Neat idea.

[Selkielass]

The wild male easterner I encountered yesterday were coming to right up to my hand yesterday when I ruffled the grass a foot or so away from where they were sunning.. I handled my big female Abby earlier, and the only reason I can come up with for their curiosity and 'friendliness' is her scent lingering on my hands and clothing.

Now I wish I had some sheds to add to the attractant mix. Oh well. I have scented bedding from and some pieces of plywood that im going to try out, just to see what I find.

[chris-uk]

Look forward to seeing the results.

[d_virginiana]

My male definitely is. He's been going nuts trying to find where Harley is for the past week or so since the weather turned. If I hold him after holding her it's even worse because he can't see that the thing he's trying to court is actually my arm (or once, his own tail).

[guidofatherof5]

My male definitely is. He's been going nuts trying to find where Harley is for the past week or so since the weather turned. If I hold him after holding her it's even worse because he can't see that the thing he's trying to court is actually my arm (or once, his own tail).

Boys will be boys or in this case male garters will be male garters.
It's not their fault. It's the females.:D

[gibble888]

Boy is that a great idea! I once used a modified minnow trap partially buried with worms in it,took two days and had a tiny newbie in it. Tried it for a week after and nothing.

[Selkielass]

I think its a very seasonal thing, but still fun.
I dropped off a couple suitcases sized pieces of plywood yesterday, and positioned an old corrugated plastic sign I found along the way. Added paper towel scraps to a couple hides alteration in place, but didnt' find a.y snakes under them.

I did see two T. Butlerii out. One was a very exhausted and belly injured female who rode home in my pocket. (No attempt to flee capture. She did gratefully crawl into a nice clean water dish to soak. We shall see how her wounds look after the encrusted sand has a chance to loosen.)

Saw a good sized male also. He wasn't the least bit afraid of being handled, but he appeared uninjured and was near good cover so I let him be, and will check the spot again today.

It will be interesting to see who or what I find.

[guidofatherof5]

Can't wait for the next episode.;)

[Selkielass]

Made the rounds today, and all the hides were empty. (5 baited 3 natural.)
Saw two snakes on my walk- a feisty reddish colored male eastern who did a wonderful impersonation of a viper when I invaded his space.
Later I came across the old one eyed T. Butlerii near the meadow for the third time -heand wasn't the doing g nearly so well today. He was cold struck and burrowed into the warmth of my sleeve as if he recognized me.

I let him soak up some warm, and checked him over before I came home- he is starting to look dehydrated and skinny, so I brought him home for a good drink, which he went for eagerly.

The female I found yesterday is looking good. The sand fell off her belly and tail wounds after a good long soak, and today she is feeling well enough to move from cool spot to warm hide. Worms are on the menu this afternoon. I hope both guests will eat.

[guidofatherof5]

Ellen's Wild Thamnophis Rehab.

[ConcinusMan]

The molecules involved in attracting males are not stable. I would think that the effectiveness of already excreted scent wears off rather quickly. If it didn't you would have males trying to mate with sticks and rocks just because a female had been there a few days ago or trying to follow girls that were there days ahead of them. You just don't see that happening. It has to be very fresh, and from a receptive female. There's only a short window of time when a female puts out sex attractant. Unless you happen to have a receptive female and go out there spreading her scent every single day while she's still receptive, I doubt anything will happen.

[Selkielass]

Morning update.
'Nick Fury' went into the dressing room (quarantine cage) and came out Samuel Jackson!
His eyes are both beautiful, and he's beautiful a big charismatic fella. No interest in food, but plenty of curiosity about everything else.
Sunny, the belly and tail injured female seems to have eaten a worm last night, yay! Her I.juries will get checked later for infection, but right now I'll let her digest.

The big problem this spring seems to be water. We have had no rain since the last snow melted, the wet meadow and vernal ponds are dry, and even the deep ditch has only a little water at the bottom. Both sunny and sally were found.d in hollows that, in a normal year would be filled with water. No water, few worms, no tadpoles or crayfish.
Sad snakes.

[Jeff B]

Sounds like a good idea. I've been dumping the bedding and sheds in my garden, hoping to see some garters hanging out back soon.