PDA

View Full Version : First garter of the year


GarterGuy
03-31-2007, 02:50 PM
FINALLY, I saw my first garter. Found him on Tues. at the local lake while hiking around. It was really warm that day....I think well into the 70's. Very pretty snake, the ground colour was a nice chocolate brown and the dorsal stipe was more orange looking then yellow.
Roy

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//511/medium/Eastern_Garter2_Lake_Grubb_03-07_.jpg

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//511/medium/Eastern_Garter4_Lake_Grubb_03-07_.jpg
Stefan-A
03-31-2007, 02:55 PM
The second one is a very nice picture. :)
adamanteus
03-31-2007, 02:56 PM
Good for you, Roy. Real pretty head on that snake. I'm pleased you had your camera with you.
GarterGuy
03-31-2007, 03:00 PM
Yeh, I don't go anywhere with out my camara anymore.:D Here's a better head shot of him.....you can really see the nice rich brown colour here.

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//511/medium/Eastern_Garter3_Lake_Grubb_03-07_.jpg
GarterGuy
03-31-2007, 03:05 PM
This pic came out pretty good too.....not a great focus on the head, but shows off the colours really nice.
Roy

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//511/medium/Eastern_Garter_Lake_Grubb_03-07_.jpg
adamanteus
03-31-2007, 03:08 PM
He's a real nice looking animal Roy.. I wish I could look forward to seeing a Garter in the wild this year. You guys are really lucky. Nice pictures to say it's in the field, you got pretty close.
GarterGuy
03-31-2007, 03:09 PM
LOL....just noticed in the second pic....if you zoom in on it, you can see a reflection in the snake's eye of me taking the picture.:cool:

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//511/medium/Eastern_Garter5_Lake_Grubb_03-07_.jpg
adamanteus
03-31-2007, 03:11 PM
Wow! You DID get close. Did you have to restrain him, or did you just take these shots while he was roaming around?
GarterGuy
03-31-2007, 03:12 PM
He's a real nice looking animal Roy.. I wish I could look forward to seeing a Garter in the wild this year. You guys are really lucky. Nice pictures to say it's in the field, you got pretty close.

Yeh, it's really cool having them in captivity, but I really love seeing them in the wild. I actually crawled on my stomach and laid down to get these pics. I've found that when you're on the snake's level and not standing above them, they're not as flighty....that and you can get some really great pics. Some joggers going by though probably thought I was nuts ...laying there in the mud with my camara....LOL.
GarterGuy
03-31-2007, 03:17 PM
Wow! You DID get close. Did you have to restrain him, or did you just take these shots while he was roaming around?


Yeh, I really hate having to mess with a snake to take it's pic. You can usually tell when this is done, just by the snake's body positioning and general attitude. It's always better, in my opinion, to catch them in the moment. Just kind of ran into this guy while he was cruising around. Helped that there as this stump he was kind of around, think it gave him a sense of security.
adamanteus
03-31-2007, 03:17 PM
LOL Yeah, I bet! Great pics. I thought he looked pretty "natural" and undisturbed. You're right you can tell the difference.
zirliz
03-31-2007, 04:10 PM
I've a pet one of these called Flickers really shy little guy, really nice pics
Thamnophis
04-01-2007, 01:10 AM
Nice pictures!
Snaky
04-10-2007, 03:35 PM
And the list of persons to get jealous of continues to grow, very nice pictures!

Little late reaction, but I still have 2 pages of unread items... work:rolleyes: