Quote Originally Posted by tspuckler View Post
You might want to get a positive ID on what type of garter you have. I don't think there are any ribbon snakes native to California.
Tim, did I miss something? He described his snake as "It is Black with White/Yellow stripes on the side with a Greyish/Green? belly." He also said it was caught in/near Sacramento. I'm certainly not an expert, but given location and description it points to T.e.elegans. Note your atratus doesn't have side stripes. His could possibly be fitchi, but he'd likely be seeing (and describing?) some red. Of course, I'd love to see a picture. Hope the original poster checks back in with us.