Freeze, the Checkered Garter Update

[chris-uk]

Steve - Were the snakes he saved actually frozen? Or just very, very cold?

[guidofatherof5]

Very, very cold. Frozen snakes = dead snakes

[d_virginiana]

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So I found this, and thought it was pretty interesting. Haven't had time to really read through it, but it basically sounds like they have antifreeze mechanisms that protect the organs from freezing, even if some of the water content of their body is frozen. I didn't get far enough to read what the researchers considered 'survival' either; long-term no side-effects, or just regaining consciousness with no major organ failure. Sounds more like something that would help if they got caught out in a frost than a true freeze-survival adaptation like you see in some salamanders though...
Just thought it was interesting and wanted to put it up here!

[guidofatherof5]

Very interesting.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Everyone is saying that there is no way that he could have been frozen, so I'll assume that he wasn't frozen (although he was stiff, I am sure of that, that was not my imagination). And whether I warmed him up over the course of 2 minutes or 2 days, all that really matters is that he survived. I'm glad that things worked out the way they did, because if I had done something different, I might be saying "hey I got a dead snake in the mail today".

A very cold object is going to be much more rigid than one that is warm. Especially a dormant, near death reptile. Have you ever handled a frozen snake? Something tells me you haven't considering you still aren't completely convinced. It's literally the same as handling an icicle. They aren't just stiff, they're hard as a rock. If you hit it off something hard enough it would crack.We are all glad the snake survived, but there is nothing you could have done to prevent his death... nothing you would have done differently in those moments you unwrapped him would have made a difference. You could have laid him on your counter and walked away. He would have warmed up regardless.

[ConcinusMan]

That article might explain how I found a northwestern out on the ground at 22 F (-5.5 C)around sunrise and it survived. I did think it was dead but after warming him up he was fine. He was laying by the opening of a rodent burrow so he probably got evicted by the occupant not long prior to me finding him.

[guidofatherof5]

All of this just proves what remarkable animals they are. "Tough as nails"

[i_heart_sneakie_snakes]

nobody is stupid.

You may not be stupid and she may not be stupid. But if you were to visit the small town I live in, you would clearly see how horribly flawed that last part of your statement is!! Lol
I hope this little one makes it through and goes on to live a long happy life!!

[Greg'sGarters]

I was speaking with Steve Schmidt last night and he told me of a situation he was in. Power was knocked out at his house by a blizzard and he was away at the time. By the time he returned home he had lost a few snakes(non-garters) to the cold but he was able to save many by handling and lightly messaging the heart area. He said in some instances he did this for over an hour on individual snakes.
He just wanted me to pass this along.

That's probably what happened to me then.

All of this just proves what remarkable animals they are. "Tough as nails"

Very true!

You may not be stupid and she may not be stupid. But if you were to visit the small town I live in, you would clearly see how horribly flawed that last part of your statement is!! Lol
I hope this little one makes it through and goes on to live a long happy life!!

I used to work in a town called Nutley. NUTLEY WAS FULL OF NUTS!!! That place was nuttier than a porta-john at a peanut festival.

[ConcinusMan]

Wow, that's nutty.