I am still around

[Bay_area]

Hi everyone,
Sorry I have not been around. I went to Maui for a week & all my snakes are up from burmation now & I had to return to work, so I have been really busy around here. I did get out for some hiking Saturday & am pleased to say the snakes are out!!! My wife & I found 3 rattlesnakes & a kingsnake on the hike. My wife almost stepped on a baby rattler that was stretched out acroos the trail. She missed it by about an inch...eeek! Anyhow, I will try to check in more often. It is to hard to read 1983 unread posts...LOL! As it says up in the top of my screen.

Some Maui highlights were;
My wife hassling a local
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/Maui2008-031.jpg

a whale cruising by
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/Maui2008-049.jpg

Here is the snake my wife almost stepped on;
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/herping%202008/herping2008-02.jpg

a friendly adult rattlesnake...LOL! It let me get really close for some pics
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/herping%202008/herping2008-19.jpg

Here is a link to youtube of a video of my Calif Red sided eating fish;
YouTube - Garter snake eats fish (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivI3M1zFVmU)

Thanks for looking,
Jerry

[anji1971]

Hi Jerry, and welcome back!!
Great pics -- that close up of the rattler is awesome!:cool:

[adamanteus]

Wow, Jerry! You're back with a bang! Great pictures, it looks as though you had a good time.

[Zephyr]

Bay Area?
As in, Bay Area reptiles inc?

[Stefan-A]

Welcome back. :)

[Lori P]

Welcome back Jerry, and wow, what great pics!! Thanks for sharing!!

[Bay_area]

Bay Area?
As in, Bay Area reptiles inc?

No, just where I live.

Thanks everyone, hopfully everything should be not so crazy around here soon. My stepdaughter just moved back home, so kind of dealing with having someone around the house again.

The red sided garter will not eat mice, only minnows & tree frogs, but the coast garter loves them. Here are some pics...

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/IMG_2348.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/IMG_2350.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/IMG_2345.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/Kaylasnakepics-009.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/Kaylasnakepics-007.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/Kaylasnakepics-003.jpg

[Lori P]

Were those live pinkies?

[Bay_area]

Were those live pinkies?

Yes, it seems to like the pinkies live better. I have offered it prekilled with no response

[Lori P]

Ok, really, really dumb question here. I know how the kingsnakes and balls kill their prey. But how do the garters?? They don't constrict right? So do they just-- ugh-- swallow live???

[adamanteus]

No Lori, they don't kill them (usually) they swallow live.

[Lori P]

Ah. Right. Um... ok. Ewww.

[drache]

welcome back Jerry
good to see you around
and thanks for the great photos

[ScimitarX]

Good to see you again. What awesome photos:D

[Snaky]

Welcome back! Great pics :)

[zooplan]

hi jerry,
seems to become spring
and the garter keepers finish thier hibernation.

[Bay_area]

Thanks everyone:) The coast garter does not seem to have any problems eating the live pinkies, they go down really quickly too. I thought other people on here feed live pinkies to their garters too:confused:

[Sid]

Welcome back, Jerry. Thanks for sharing the great photos.

[Loren]

Hi Jerry!
I just got back from a trip down south for a few days myself.
I feed live pinks sometimes too- I figure there cant be alot of oxygen in a snakes digestive tract, so they die really fast.
Probably just as fast as constriction.

[Bay_area]

Hi Jerry!
I feed live pinks sometimes too- I figure there cant be alot of oxygen in a snakes digestive tract, so they die really fast.
Never see them move once they are down...LOL! I am sure they die right away.

[Lori P]

If my mice ever really breed, lol, I have no doubt at some point I'll feed live pinks too. I just had never thought about the fact that garters just kind of swallow, without constricting first. Quess I never had cause to ponder it before... tho I should have realized by watching them eat fish. Yeah, hope the pinks pass quickly.

[Stefan-A]

Never see them move once they are down...LOL! I am sure they die right away.
Probably too tight to move in there.. or to inhale.

[ssssnakeluvr]

wanderings have been known to throw a coil or two around mice....mainly to hold them while eating....their saliva also acts like a tranquilizer on mice.

[Stefan-A]

wanderings have been known to throw a coil or two around mice....mainly to hold them while eating....their saliva also acts like a tranquilizer on mice.
I think I read somewhere that they're probably the most venomous garter.. :D And garter venom is neurotoxic.

And according to somebody, it's real constriction. I don't know, I'm still looking for scientific articles on both subjects.

But I still have the picture of the vagrans constricting/restraining a mouse and it might just be my imagination, but their enlarged teeth seem bigger than the ones on my sirtalis. And they definitely feel a lot stronger than sirtalis when you handle them. In my humble opinion.

[Stefan-A]

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-1511%28200109%2935%3A3%3C450%3ATIAICB%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8&origin=crossref


Abstract

Western terrestrial garter snakes (Thamnophis elegans) are the only Thamnophis known to constrict prey, and previous studies suggest that they are relatively inefficient constrictors. To quantitatively evaluate that perception, we compared the constricting behavior of T. elegans to that of a more typical constrictor, the gopher snake, Pituophis catenifer. We recorded the behavior of snakes preying upon mice under controlled laboratory conditions, focusing on behavioral measures related to the function of efficiently subduing and ingesting prey. Compared to gopher snakes, western terrestrial garter snakes showed the following characteristics indicating they are relatively inefficient constrictors: (1) greater variability in the method of applying constricting coils; (2) a weaker tendency to constrict prey; (3) longer times to subdue prey; (4) a lower frequency of trials in which coils were parallel; and (5) absence of the behavior of releasing the initial bite on the prey prior to the initiation of swallowing. These differences between the two species might be a result of differences in recent selective regimes, because western terrestrial garter snakes rely less heavily than gopher snakes on prey for which constriction is likely to reduce a snake's feeding costs. Another, not mutually exclusive, explanation for the behavioral differences is that they reflect the more recent evolutionary origin of constriction in T. elegans than in P. catenifer. Despite their relative inefficiency, the Colorado T. elegans used in this study nearly always killed the mice they constricted prior to ingesting them. In contrast, previous studies have indicated that T. elegans from the Pacific Northwest rarely kill mice they constrict. This difference may represent intraspecific geographic variation in constricting behavior. However, a recent molecular systematic study suggests that Colorado and Pacific Northwest T. elegans may represent distinct species in which constriction has independently evolved.

Bolded some parts that I found especially interesting.

[Bay_area]

I think I read somewhere that they're probably the most venomous garter.. :D And garter venom is neurotoxic.


I have heard that too. The mice are dead by the time he is finished eating, so there maybe something to that:confused:

[Bay_area]

The Coast Garter was still looking hungry today, so I gave him a couple more mice...gone in seconds:cool:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/IMG_2612.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/IMG_2618.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/IMG_2623.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/IMG_2626.jpg

[Loren]

My coast garter is a voracious eater too. I tossed a peach fuzzy at it the other day, it glanced off the hidebox, and I swear she(?) caught it before it hit the substrate.
I have read that many snake species have been discovered or susupected to have mildly venomous saliva.
I noticed a few years ago that live fence lizards seldom struggled much when my long nose snake would bite them. Always wondered if something in their saliva might stun prey as well.

[Lori P]

You did get some good shots there, Jerry- and he really is a gorgeous snake. What is the other garter in with the coast?

[Bay_area]

What is the other garter in with the coast?
That is just the California Redsided Garter, he will not eat the mice. He likes minnows though

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/IMG_2345.jpg

[zooplan]

Hi Jerry,
I hope you will go herping again soon and post some further nice pictures from your neighbourhood.

[Bay_area]

Hi Jerry,
I hope you will go herping again soon and post some further nice pictures from your neighbourhood.

It has cooled down again, Global Cooling...LOL! Hope the weather warms up again soon, I can hardly wait to get out there:)

[Loren]

Jerry, I'm still working on getting a vehicle that gets over 10 mpg, but hopefully I'll have one soon. Then I hope to head your direction.