Introduction and Thamnophis Field Herping: San Francisco Bay Area

[Zach_Lim]

Thank you for the warm welcomes. My only gartersnake is the juvie Santa Cruz that is pictured above. Cute little fellow that takes anything from my fingers or forceps.
Found him underneath a pile of trash while searching for rubber boas!

[guidofatherof5]

Lucky.
Very nice.

[mikem]

Great photos, thanks for sharing! I want to add some atratus to my collection, very beautiful garters. Love that flame terrestris too

[-MARWOLAETH-]

Welcome to the forum.I love the colour scheme on those atratus

[jitami]

Welcome! Love the pics! Please do share more! I'm up by Sacramento, but haven't had the time to really get into field herping. Though we do find a few snakes here and there... I was fortunate enough to find a zonata, probably my favorite snake, up north a bit. Good luck in your search for the elusive tetrataenia!

[Zach_Lim]

Thanks for the kind words.

Zonata are hands down my favorite North American snake. I have been lucky enough to have seen a pair breeding in the wild!

Tami, what county did you see the zonata in? In the Cascade Range? Gorgeous snakes up there...

[jitami]

I have been lucky enough to have seen a pair breeding in the wild!

Very cool!

Tami, what county did you see the zonata in? In the Cascade Range? Gorgeous snakes up there...

It was actually in Nevada County, just into the Tahoe National Forest. I also used to see them growing up along the Arroyo Seco River and didn't realize there were kingsnakes without red until I was an adult

Here's the guy we caught & released:

King3.jpg

And here's my little girl, Miss Hissy Fit... not as pretty or as good natured as the one we released, lol, but she needed a home and I was/am thrilled to provide her one:

DSC05217-1.jpg
btw, have no idea what locality she's from, but she's more orange, cream and black rather than stark black/white/red. She was brought into a pet store by a family who didn't want her anymore. They said they bought her? Who knows... of course the pet store here in CA couldn't do anything with her, but took her in and started making calls. I had mentioned that I'd love one if someone came across one needing a home and a friend thought of me when the petshop owner called him... thanks again, Loren

[BUSHSNAKE]

NICE...mountain kings are awesome!

[EasternGirl]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Great pics...thanks for sharing those! I have a baby Oregon red spotted garter named Bella....among many other garters!

[jitami]

And here's my little girl, Miss Hissy Fit... not as pretty or as good natured as the one we released, lol, but she needed a home and I was/am thrilled to provide her one:
DSC05217-1.jpg

Have no idea why that pic is so tiny, even when clicked on.... here's a larger version... these were when she first got here last year. She's probably doubled in size since then. Like most kings, she's a GREAT eater. Unlike most kings she'd prefer to eat me <gg> I still love her, though.