Easterns that I have met

[stonyloam]

Beautiful snakes Don! Lots of uncommon "common" garters.

[Stefan-A]

Beautiful snakes, both of you.

Terry, will you be "baiting snakes" this year, too?

[stonyloam]

Terry, will you be "baiting snakes" this year, too?

Any time now. A little warm weather should bring them out.

[Sid]

Great thread, Terry. Very interesting and nice photos by both you and Don. I have a number of Easterns and the next nice sunny day I'll take mine outside where the colors show up much truer and post them.

Here's one that past last spring. Very deep green and on stripping:

[Stefan-A]

A real beauty, Sid.

[Sid]

A real beauty, Sid.

Thanks, Stefan. She was by far the most laid back Eastern that I've ever had. Really made me sick when I lost her. She was great for taking to school exibits. All the kids loved her.

[anji1971]

Sorry to hear about that, Sid.

I find it very cool that there are so many variations in the Easterns. I've come across many over the years, and I think all have been distinctly different. I also love that they can be mostly striped with very little of the spot pattern, and yet some are almost completely spotted.
"Common" indeed!!

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

that blue one and green one are maritimes

I have to disagree with that statement, those are easterns. I find garters of all three types that stonyloam mentioned and I too, break them down into those three color groups. Remember, where I go herping is far our of the range of any maritimes (pennsylvania)

I have a female eastern that's identical to the last pic in the first post here. Guess I need to show you guys what I mean and take some more pics!!!

[GarterGuy]

Yeh, Maritimes and Easterns are really similar....it's really hard to differenciate between them, especially in areas where their ranges over lap and they more then likely are integrading. Guess the only "true" Maritimes would be ones from the maritime areas such as Nova Scotia and surrounding islands. That is pretty much their stronghold, since both Easterns and Maritimes are found together pretty much everywhere else.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I'm not even really convinced that maritimes and easterns should be separate subspecies. honestly, I look at a maritime, and I look at an eastern without a stripe, and I see the same snake. what if the maritimes in their "stronghold" are actually just isolated easterns that have happened to favor a stripeless coloration?