Welcome Kathy.

I live in upstate NY as well, We had a lot of late litters in the wild this year, Your hunch was a good one, the first winter is the hardest, and without "bulking up" first. the outlook is not the best.

If you need any assistance of any kind, I am almost always available.

Can you please describe your snakes coloring or post a photo.

There is a couple species of smaller snakes that sometimes get mistaken for garters, Feel free to look on my web site and see if any of my snakes look like yours.

Most of all, have fun here............