Bright orange stripe

[JohnJohn]

Hi,

I have a question for the experts, about color variation in eastern garters. I live in southwest Ohio. I see eastern garters frequently on my property and I've certainly been impressed with how much they can vary in color and appearance. Most of the ones I see on my property are brown and gray and often with some small stripes of blue which can range from steel grey to bright turqoise blue. Sometimes I will see some with red stripes but these seem less common on my property.

Yesterday, I found a young garter that had the most stunning orange stripe. The underside of this snake is a beautiful yellow green color and running down the sides is the orange stripe. Up close it is the brightest orange like the color of a bright neon orange highlighter pen. Not red, but brilliant orange. I've never seen anything like it. Is this unusual? Anyone have pictures with such bright orange stripes?

Sorry, no pics. I actually caught the snake and put it in a tank. I wanted to do some studying to see if this was unusual before I decide to either keep it or release it.

[guidofatherof5]

Welcome to the forum. I'm sure I speak for the other but we want to see a photo.
Don't tease us like that. Sounds beautiful.

[gregmonsta]

Greetings I second the request for pics!! I'm sure Don and a couple of others have some nice orange easterns in their collections.

[JohnJohn]

OK, I searched on line and found some pictures of easterns with orange. Mine looks similar, but a bit different. I guess I really should try to get some pics.

This guy is really fast, so I'm not sure how best to get a good close up picture. I'm OK with a camera but not great. Any suggestions for picture taking methods?

[JohnJohn]

OK, I just did some searching and see some pics of orange easterns. I think mine may be exceptional. I was wondering if the brighness of the color was related to the fact that it is a very young one.

I'll take some pictures and post them later.

By the way, I'm not experienced with garters. I have a lot of corn snakes and pythons, but never kept garters. I think this one might be the one that wins me over.

[Zephyr]

I think I know EXACTLY what you found. A butler's garter snake!
That's exactly how I would define the colors from my area.
Was the head really small?

[Zephyr]

The striping was just like on those, except brighter orange, right?

[Didymus20X6]

The striping was just like on those, except brighter orange, right?

I caught a Common that looked almost exactly like that a few months ago. Although I'm beginning to suspect that these are Easterns around here, given the color variations I've seen. But all the reading I've done seems to indicate that only Commons are to be found in this area. Maybe you guys can give me a more decisive opinion on that.

[Zephyr]

I caught a Common that looked almost exactly like that a few months ago. Although I'm beginning to suspect that these are Easterns around here, given the color variations I've seen. But all the reading I've done seems to indicate that only Commons are to be found in this area. Maybe you guys can give me a more decisive opinion on that.

Easterns can be very deceitful. At one point I thought I'd caught a butler's in a different area and it turned out to be an eastern. The distinguishing features between easterns and butler's is the face and its look. Easterns have larger, broader heads with lips that curve into a sly sort of "smile." Butler's have a cuter, more subtle look to their faces. And of course, there are the stripes. Butler's have more prominent ones.

[Zephyr]

Here's one that I found that I think is what you're describing, only swap the bright yellow with orange instead.