Selkielass
06-01-2011, 01:22 PM
Went for a alk yesterday with my husband along a railroad spur belonging to the Michigan Transit museum ( Michigan Transit Museum (http://www.michigantransitmuseum.org/) )
This spur runs thru some great garter habitat, but until yesterday we'd seen no garters.
My husband spotted some movement in the weeds between the track and a large ditch, investigated, and pulled out a small, very dark colored Butlers garter snake!
It was very calm, and I thought at first it was gravely injured. Really , it *had* been gravely injured, but was very nearly healed. Looks like it was attacked by a dog- It has a number of puncture wounds on neck and upper body, and a large chunk of its side missing about 1/3 of the way down its body, with an injury right over the spine nearby.
All injuries were well scabbed over, but it was hanging so limply in my grasp I thought it was partially paralyzed or very ill, and decided to bring it home. The only positive sign was plenty of tongue flicking, and alert, curious head motions. Fortunately as it warmed in my hands, it became more active and curious, and began gripping my fingers with body and tail.
Brought it home, cleaned it up, gave it an iodine soak for its injuries and set it up in my spare aquarium, where it promptly set about exploring and people watching- this little guy is fearless! Hasn't disappeared into its hides even once, and two little worms disappeared without a trace.
This morning "Trax" was out sunning itself on its branch with two petals of newly shed skin framing its face. It was having lots of problems working off the skin and freeing it from the many scabs, so I misted the cage well and checked in periodically to see how it was going.
After an hour or so, Trax managed to work off the injured areas of skin and once past the large side injury its skin slipped easily.
S/he is still terribly battle-scarred, (Missing half of two belly scales and 4-5 rows of side scales above them, plus numerous puncture scars.) but this little fighter is amazingly calm and terribly curious about people- It actually comes up to the glass to investigate when people enter the room.
I've got some pictures pre-shed, I'll try to get a few more showing the freshly healed punctures and the crater on its side- I'm really amazed that this little creature survived these injuries with few apparent ill effects.
This spur runs thru some great garter habitat, but until yesterday we'd seen no garters.
My husband spotted some movement in the weeds between the track and a large ditch, investigated, and pulled out a small, very dark colored Butlers garter snake!
It was very calm, and I thought at first it was gravely injured. Really , it *had* been gravely injured, but was very nearly healed. Looks like it was attacked by a dog- It has a number of puncture wounds on neck and upper body, and a large chunk of its side missing about 1/3 of the way down its body, with an injury right over the spine nearby.
All injuries were well scabbed over, but it was hanging so limply in my grasp I thought it was partially paralyzed or very ill, and decided to bring it home. The only positive sign was plenty of tongue flicking, and alert, curious head motions. Fortunately as it warmed in my hands, it became more active and curious, and began gripping my fingers with body and tail.
Brought it home, cleaned it up, gave it an iodine soak for its injuries and set it up in my spare aquarium, where it promptly set about exploring and people watching- this little guy is fearless! Hasn't disappeared into its hides even once, and two little worms disappeared without a trace.
This morning "Trax" was out sunning itself on its branch with two petals of newly shed skin framing its face. It was having lots of problems working off the skin and freeing it from the many scabs, so I misted the cage well and checked in periodically to see how it was going.
After an hour or so, Trax managed to work off the injured areas of skin and once past the large side injury its skin slipped easily.
S/he is still terribly battle-scarred, (Missing half of two belly scales and 4-5 rows of side scales above them, plus numerous puncture scars.) but this little fighter is amazingly calm and terribly curious about people- It actually comes up to the glass to investigate when people enter the room.
I've got some pictures pre-shed, I'll try to get a few more showing the freshly healed punctures and the crater on its side- I'm really amazed that this little creature survived these injuries with few apparent ill effects.