First garters of the year

[ClosedCasket88]

luckily i took some time today to walk down the street at this park behind my old highschool(biggest highschool on the east coast), theres a very dirty trashy creek that runs through then when the park ends goes back under ground throughout my city.
i was walking the lowland side of the creek forawhile then decided my chances would be better on the rockyer hilly side consider thats were they probobly hibernate due to flooding of the other side.and it wasnt too nice out so i figured if there were any out they would be near there hibernaculum .
the second i took the trail to cross the creek i hear something from acros the creek directly were i was gonna go and its a garter, a couple feet long.
i run across there and i see a watersnake first, then the garter i first spotted started to come towards me and i grab it after looking for him for a minute with the water snake in my hand biting the hell outa me.. i go show my girlfriend (still on the other side of the creek) and let them both go as she watches them in amazement slithering away .
i go back over find 2 more , another garter and a water snake . shes crossing the creek by now ,i show her, let them go . then im talking to her asking her if i should push my luck as i walk back towards were i found them and right as i said it i found 2 more .after that i thought i def wouldnt find any more and i found one more ,the smallest outa the bunch. right were i found the first 2 . None of these are the same i let them all go on the other side of the creek and keep in mind all of these were within 30 ft of each other , i was walking for about an hour before i seen the first one across the creek.
i was doubled up all day w snakes in each hands , it was about 55 degrees, very nice considering its been cold for awhile.
ground was rather warm becuase no clouds n such thats why i think so many were out , the air temp was a bit chilly.
all of the garters were well over 2 feet , one of them a little over 3 almost, shes was enormous
these were all caught an released at nailors run park,upper dabry,PA.

turned out to be very fun instead of the normal doobie stroll in the park
.im advising you to go out and enjoy spring folks.
take care
-Ryan

[Sid]

:) Great going!

Here I am in the sunny south, USA and only saw a dozen or so Garters all of last year and believe me I searched:mad:. We've had a number of days into the 70's already and not the first Garter yet this year.

Sid

[Thamnophis]

The season has started, so to say!

[ClosedCasket88]

hey sid , i hear ya on that , ive done a good amount of walking around already this year, we havnt realy had anydays over 60 though back in december i got a 70 degree day up here in PA and i went down to a different park away from a creek and i found one eastern garter and about 10 brown snakes(storeria dekayi) all basking about 10 ft from each other . ive noticed the only times have been seeing sights like this are on warm nears and near or around a big cliffface/hills probly coming right out of there den. like i said after an hour of searching yesterday i had nothing on the one side of the creek once i went on the other side it was a goldmine .
i was ttalking to afriend that was doing construction more towards the appalachian mountains in PA and said they found like 100 snakes of alltypes n sizes under a foundation of a house . i told him to setup cameras when the weather gets nice and perhaps try n get some footage of them emerging .

[drache]

I spoke to my friend up north and she's seen quite a few already as well.
I can't wait to go and look.

[adamanteus]

The weather's getting warmer here too. I'm going to look for Grass Snakes (Natrix natrix) in the next couple of weeks. If I strike lucky I'll post photos.

[abcat1993]

They'll probably be really messed up here in Chicago. It was in the sixties in December, then went down again to -temps, now it's back up to high 60's, and next week it's going to be freezing again.

[drache]

we had some weird high temps here too
I wonder whether that'll affect their reproduction

[Cazador]

It shouldn't, Rhea. There are some interesting studies out of Manitoba showing that the reproductive season of their red-sided garters can actually be extended following cold weather fluctuations. The cold weather sort of acts to re-synchronize male and female reproductive behavior. Lab work confirmed their findings. Basically, individual males showed interest for about three weeks after starting courtship activity. (Remember that not all males emerge or begin courtship at the same time, so there's a bit of variation). After males and unmated females lost interest in the lab, they were exposed to a mini-brumation (4C for 36 hours). Upon their second "emergence" the males and females began courting again.

Also remember that the Manitoba red-sided garters have evolved to tolerate (and in fact become stimulated by) to these temperature fluctuations. One wouldn't want to expose a Florida blue, for example, to such dramatic temp changes.

Rick

[GarterGuy]

Very cool Ryan......I'm still trying to find the den site at the lake where I see all the garters around my house. I may actually head up there today and see if anything is out and about. Wish me luck!
Roy

[Elliot]

It already gets in the 80s here, but all I've seen is a Texas brown snake. There aren't any garters here, but there are a few western ribbons left that people haven't managed to kill yet.

[ClosedCasket88]

well more good news, yesterday i went out again and found a garter ball going on at the banks edge , i counted 5 of them all twitchin up and balled up , never seen anything like it around here in these trashy parts of philladelphia ,PA. it was a rare moment and a awesome one at that.besides them i found
bout 5 others all over 3 ft with an exeption of a smal poss male i found before i left.
today im going to be taking a big trip an hour outa this sh*Thole that i live near and going out to the brandywine river , theres a good strectch of woods along the river that should hold lotsa fun stuff, its in the 70's today , i figure if ive been seening them out there yesterday and the day before in the 50's n 60's then there should b more today and maybee the possiblities of a milksnake or a blackrat possibly along with soem box turtles maybee. who knows . ill get back to yas.
Good luck garter guy
let me know how u make out
i will be bringing a camera today =)

[GarterGuy]

Well it was a really nice day for a hike today...got in the mid 70's, but I saw nothing. Yeh, some birds and squirrels and such, but nothing reptilian. I'm begining to think that the spot where I find the garters, has then because the lake has a very high frog population in it. I'm thinking that they den up some where else in the woods. Didn't really see any rocky areas or such where I'd think there'd be a den site anywhere around the lake. Oh well, still was a nice day, but does make me jealous of your finds Ryan!:p
Roy

[drache]

It shouldn't, Rhea. There are some interesting studies out of Manitoba showing that the reproductive season of their red-sided garters can actually be extended following cold weather fluctuations. The cold weather sort of acts to re-synchronize male and female reproductive behavior.
After males and unmated females lost interest in the lab, they were exposed to a mini-brumation (4C for 36 hours). Upon their second "emergence" the males and females began courting again.

Also remember that the Manitoba red-sided garters have evolved to tolerate (and in fact become stimulated by) to these temperature fluctuations.

Rick

I didn't mean to leave the quote so long, but I'm not sure what to cut.

My concern is that some species actually need a minimum of four weeks of solid cold weather to get ready to reproduce and I don't know that we have had even one at a stretch. So I think that even with the mini-brumation the idea is to re-synch them after the basic pre-requisites are met.
I cannot imagine that they ever get temps in the 60s for extended periods in February in Manitoba. It's just a bit high.
Here, we've only had two serious frost periods this season and neither lasted a week.

[Snaky]

I don't think it's "needed" per se. At least not for all species of garters. This has been proven in captivity, where there have been breeding without brumation. I know the example of cyrtopsis, which normally has a long brumation in nature, but which has reproduced without any brumation in captivity.

What I do agree on that it's healthier for the snakes and the offspring is also healthier.

[drache]

It's good to know that it doesn't affect them that much.
I was just reading the Mutschman book earlier, and I think it was T. s. parietalis he was referring to , but I remember him quoting research that found that without at least 4 weeks of below 4ºC there is no follicle formation.
Up North they're probably getting enough cold.
I imagine that if the weather patterns will keep getting warmer, eventually they'll adapt.

[suzoo]

Hi all! Its been awhile, I've been gone on vacation. I got back just in time to see my first Garters this year! My daughter lives in town and has a high grass water drainage ditch across the street from her house. We decided to take a walk, and I counted 10 garters, all in about 50 feet along the grass beside the road! They were all male, (yes, I checked) and none were over 2 feet long.
YEAH!!!! IT'S FINALLY SPRING!!!!
Its supposed to rain today and be cold today and tomorrow, but I'm going herping anyway!!!!
Sue

[Sid]

Well now we are having temps in the upper 70 to 80 F and still not found my first garter this year. Did have a productive day Thursday. One Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta- Black Rat and one unusual find in a Lampropeltis calligaster rhombomaculata- Mole King Snake. She measured (in hand) about 47 inches, so a good find. Brought her home for a couple of days to get photos then will release her in another day or two. Really has an attutidue.

Sid

[ClosedCasket88]

look in blue garter post to see my blue eastern find. it was a dead one though=(