questions about looking for garter snakes

[jwolfe152]

well i went to mow grass at my mom and dads where i found Ekoh my wc eastern. Well i did not see any signs but its been cloudy and humid out. what is the best times to go looking through tall grass such as a yard? and also i saw MANY holes how do i know if it was a garter hole or something else like rodents?

[RedSidedSPR]

They're rodent holes.

[guidofatherof5]

Garters evict the resident and then use the hole.

My guess would be the snakes saw you. Spotting them isn't easy.

[RedSidedSPR]

Yeah. But they're rodent holes. Potentially occupied by garters.

[Selkielass]

In tall grass they are very very hard to see.
I have found areas in parks where I can search a clump of day lilies by parting the leaves and feeling around d at the base of the leaves to fi d garters. Can't see them from any distance because they twine themselves among the bases of the leaves as soon as they sense motion, but they are there.

Easterns and butlers do the same thing in tall grass, weeds and brush- they blend in among the tangles and tunnels down at ground level, and emerge or climb just enough to fi.d a good sunning spot when the sun is at the right angle.

I have my best luck spotting garters on clear sunny mornings just as the day starts to warm up- if the morning is cool as I set out, but sunshine is getting warm on the skin as I return then im in the right window for my area.
(This window shifts as sunrise time changes, the angle the sun hits the trail edge shifts, and as trees fill in and shade previously sunny spots.

The snakes I see out sunning are usually in blue phase or sick in some way that slows them down. Healthy active snakes usually retreat to cover before I get close to them- I see tails retreating into brush piles or hear them moving away while im still a dozen or more feet away. Unless they are sick or careless enough to be far away from cover I don't get close to them.

Get your eyes in the zone for spotting movement and pattern that doesn't *quite* fit into the background litter and chaos. Its a lot like looking for a go-cache. When you start spotting insect movement, animal poop, and nearly invisible pieces of human trash like plastic lids, curls of wire insulation and nearly rusted away to nothing pieces of metal then you are cluing in on the right sorts of movement and artificial regularities in pattern and curve that help you spot snakes and other well hidden animals.

Mid summer is the hardest time to spot snakes in my area. The grass and weeds are lush and long, offering excellent cover, and the heat means they aren't out sunning for very long before they are warm, alert and fast.

You can try kicking clumps and tufts of grass in the hope of spooking hiding snakes into exposing themselves, but I haven't had much luck with this unless several people are moving together in a line, limiting lines of retreat.

Good luck!

[jwolfe152]

In tall grass they are very very hard to see.
I have found areas in parks where I can search a clump of day lilies by parting the leaves and feeling around d at the base of the leaves to fi d garters. Can't see them from any distance because they twine themselves among the bases of the leaves as soon as they sense motion, but they are there.

one question are they attracted to something in the day lilies in particular ir is it just that there are so many its a good place to spot them?

[RedSidedSPR]

Something I do is lay down plywood around the edges of the area. If there are snakes in the area, you'll find them under the plywood.

[jwolfe152]

Something I do is lay down plywood around the edges of the area. If there are snakes in the area, you'll find them under the plywood.

I think this will be the way I attract snakes i would like a few more to hopefully breed in a few years maybe help get people interested in them or just let some loose increase the population

[ConcinusMan]

I think this will be the way I attract snakes i would like a few more to hopefully breed in a few years maybe help get people interested in them or just let some loose increase the population

Releasing more snakes into an area does not increase population. If snakes are there and reproducing, then the habitat is probably already supporting as many as it can. Adding more snakes only makes life harder for all the snakes there, causing the weakest/oldest to die off. What increases population is increase in food supply and winter survival rate. That is influenced largely by weather so population numbers naturally will vary widely from year to year. Artificially increasing the population by releasing snakes has no effect other than what I already mentioned. The excess will just die off.

[Foxrun402]

An experiment that was brought up was to use "Used / Soiled" bedding from your snakes tank as an "attractant" to see if it would lure other garters to the area based on pheromones and scent. You could use night-crawlers in a container with lots of small holes they cant escape from as well. The downside is they cannot take the heat very well and they will die and decompose fast...

Scenting is probably worth a shot though... It works when you try and get them out to eat that's for sure. wiggle a worm piece in-front of a hide and they come right out

So maybe make them a small hiding spot that is nice and shaded and low to the ground... and place some of Ekoh's soiled bedding pieces in there... That may attract more... and since Ekoh was found there.. then Ekoh's scent may be familiar to others in the area