I find a lot of snakes as a Department of Wildlife volunteer here in CO, but I've always released them unharmed. Until now.

I found this one this past weekend. I have a few other colubrids, but I've never actually owned a garter. I grew up in a big city and we'd find the occasional rat snake in the woods and sometimes copperheads near water, but rarely anything else.

I'm pretty sure it's a big female but the more I look, the less certain I am. I guess that's how it always is, eh? The long tail is throwing me off. I think she's just too big to be a male, at any rate.

She's not thrilled at being handled. She squirms but doesn't panic. She'll assume a defensive posture and look mean, but she'll let me reach in and pick her up if I move slowly.
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