I finally caught one this year.

[Cobra Kai]

Greetings from Boston! I'm new here. This is a great forum and I look forward to learning from you guys.

This handsome little beaut was just waiting for me to pick him/her up. I was surprised he was out today, because it was only 50 degrees and cloudy in Boston. I was cutting the lawn and he was sitting motionless on the pea stone patio. I picked him up and he never tried to bite, probably because he was too cold. He did manage to skunk me. They always do that to me. My wife was taking the pictures and asked what that smell was. LOL! I wanted to keep it for my kids (really me - hehe), but I figured I better let him go to catch him another day

Would you guys say it was a Common Garter (Thamnophis sirtalis) or an Eastern Garter (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)? I never knew the difference if there is one.
Thanks!

[infernalis]

That certainly looks like an Eastern (Sirtalis Sirtalis)

Salutations and kudos on the release, future wild litters should be many

Judging by the surroundings, she is a clever snake to have gotten this far with all the people around.

That is an awesome specimen BTW

[Aundrea]

Welcome to the group!!! Very nice snake you found there and BTW Your dog is a cutie

[jitami]

Welcome Beautiful girl and, as Andrea said, cute puppy

[Stefan-A]

Would you guys say it was a Common Garter (Thamnophis sirtalis) or an Eastern Garter (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)? I never knew the difference if there is one.

There is a difference, but not the way you might think. Eastern garters ARE Common garters. One of 12 subspecies of Common garters, to be exact.

Oh and welcome aboard. That's a nice Eastern.

[Cobra Kai]

Thanks very much for the warm welcome. This little beaut definitely made my day. I bet she knows my dog Elvis pretty well. BTW…Thanks for the doggie love too. The neighborhood we live in is suburbs north of Boston. We have a lot of rock walls and ledge behind our house, where I usually find them. Finding this one was very encouraging, because we built our house 2 years ago where there used to be woods. I do hope they continue to breed. By the look of this one, I think they are a thriving population. This girl looked very healthy.

Welcome to the group!!! Very nice snake you found there and BTW Your dog is a cutie

I noticed you have an Ornate Boxie. That's great, because I have a Florida box turtle (Terrapene carolina bauri) & a Three-toed Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina triunguis). They are the only survivers of my youth. I've had them for over 25 years. WOW I'M OLD!

There is a difference, but not the way you might think. Eastern garters ARE Common garters. One of 12 subspecies of Common garters, to be exact. Oh and welcome aboard. That's a nice Eastern.

Yeah...that makes sense. Thanks for explaining it.

[Sid]

Welcome to the forum. That's a very nice Eastern girl. Great photos too.

[bsol]

She is a beaut! Welcome to the site pal!
Glad you found her and not some snake hater wanting to kill anything with scales and no legs!

[Lori P]

Welcome, and what a great looking snake! Hope you enjoy it here. I like the pup, too. :-)

[GartersRock]

What a big girl! How cute!