eastern pics from MA

[greyhawk]

Hey, I'm new. I don't own any garters but have kept some for short periods of time and like searching for them. I thought I'd share some pics of some garters from northeast Massachusetts.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/rhyion/garterstrike2may1806.jpg



http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/rhyion/newshedgarter.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/rhyion/xanthiceasgarter.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k251/rhyion/redandanoitherg.jpg

[Thamnophis]

Very nice.

Is the snake on the second picture also a n Eastern garter?
And if so, does this colour appear together with those of the first, third and fourth picture?

[Cazador]

What great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

[Beautifylgirl]

Very nice pictures. I personally like the first one where its trying to eat the camera. You are very lucky to get a shot like that . My camera is too slow and would miss that action completely.
Brittany

[greyhawk]

Very nice.

Is the snake on the second picture also a n Eastern garter?
And if so, does this colour appear together with those of the first, third and fourth picture?

Yup, all are easterns from the same acre or so. The first pic, the second pic, and the yellow one on the fourth pic are all the same phase, they second one doesnt have visible checkering/spots because it isn't flattened out/threatened like in the first pic. The fourth one has checkering because it must have eaten something. The second one would probably have spots if I were to scared it. Most of the garters in that area are that yellow phase, pretty much dark, almost lback, with yellow stripes and bluish checkering when flattened. The snake on the third and on the last picture is more of an orange phase garter, although it is hard to tell in the pictures probably. Orange-ish stripes are fairly common around here too. Once instead of bluish checkerings I saw one that had green checkering. I have never heard of one of those before I saw one, has anyone else?


About the first picture, it wasn't hard to get the picture because the snake made slow strikes and kept its mouth open for a couple seconds whenever I put my hand near its mouth.

[ssssnakeluvr]

easterns have variable colors.....

[ssssnakeluvr]

got sidetracked by my kids.... lol! They have many different colors and varying amounts of checkers. I have seen pics of one eastern with reddish checkers....

[GarterGuy]

Very nice T.s.sirtalis pics! Nice examples of the variability in their colours and patterns. All those snakes in one acre?....wish I could find a spot like that here in PA.:D Looks like the first one didn't really like getting his pic taken though....LOL.

[Thamnophis]

Thank for the explaination.

I know that Eastern Garters are highly variable.
But I was curious if different variations live close to eachother in the same area.

[Markus18]

is the snake on the second photo not a Thamnophis butleri:confused:

[greyhawk]

Ya they are very variable, but the vast majority of garters in one area will probably look similar. The ornage one was the only real abberant one out of about the 20 or so I've seen there, so it's not like every snake looks totally different. Would be pretty sweet if they were all different though. I hear maritimes are especially variable. I saw a picture of 5 of them from the same island that all had a different pattern.

And about the spot, I really got lucky finding it. Its an area that was once dug up for a missle silo or something, and now its just all rocky and vernal pools formed. So there are thousands of frogs and tadpoles there, plenty of deep rock piles to hide and hibernate under, and there are no tall trees so lots of sun gets in. Racers, milks, nothern waters, ribbons, and garters all live there.

[greyhawk]

is the snake on the second photo not a Thamnophis butleri:confused:

Nope, all eaterns. Only other garter snake that lives somewhat near here are maritimes, which sometimes integrade with easterns just north of where I live, but I think all of those photos are pure easterns. That second one just doesn't look spotted because it was very relaxed. However there are many easterns that can have spots when they are relaxed, but this particular population only showed spots when flattened.

[brown655]

Hi yal........
Its been a while.Here is my 2 cents worth........
With in a 2 square mile area I have seen many colour phases like brown,yellow,orange,red,and silver.:)
.......................................John

[ClosedCasket88]

ive had easterns from the outside philadelphia give off many differnt colors n pattern variations . i had one down the street at my local cemetary that has complete white stripes wich is unheard of around here as well as blue stripes wich is definately unheard of around here . ive had reddish /orangish background with the black stripes n checkers on top as well as grey looking gackgrounds with black checkers n stripes.
yes easterns can come in many colors n patterns wich is a plus for me considering im lucky to find even a storeria dekayi around here .

my cemetary is next to a a small creek wich is underground most of the town but has bout a 1/4 mile of open natural wooded land . unfortunately this is the only wooded areas left and im sourrounded by citys.
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