this is bad......

[Snake lover 3-25]

yes.... i have to keep them at least until the field is mown.... that tractor has already killed 2 snakes in the past few hours..... and it almost had a third....... and possibly a fith as well.... thankfully..... i caught them just seconds b4 they slithered under the wheel...... one of the 5 caught in the last 2 days was injured by the tractor.... when i caught it it appeared to have been paralized about halfway down it's body..... but now it seems fine..... moving normally.... and i think it may have just been an over reaction from him twards his own injury..... but out of the 4 adults caught ALL of them are very thin..... but i will take your advise and release all of them once the field is cleared...... (only happens every 2 years) unf..... i came too late to save a baby..... and the little guy seems to have been VERY blue..... almost puget colored..... may have been a morph but i will be back from the 31 i have now down to 4 soon...... i also rescued 12 mantids..... that tractor moves so fast..... too many are just not fast enough to escape......

[Zephyr]

I've seen worse snakes come out of brumation. The population can't adapt to new conditions if you intervene.
Also, as far as the tractor bit; every time I see a dead snake at my favorite spots I get concerned for the population. However, the locales I find snakes in varies greatly with the season; after remembering the literally hundreds of snakes I saw in the spring, my doubts go away.

[Snake lover 3-25]

ok thanks..... that's reassuring..... but it looks like only 2 were killed..... vs. more than half a dozen last time it was done..... i made this driver (my brother) drive slow...... even though he didn't care if he hit things () and no other creatures were killed either at least i saved 2....

but i believe that either the snake that appeared paralyzed was in alot of pain and therefore let it's back end fall limp???? or when i picked up and felt it's twisted/broken/kinked spine i somehow moved it and took the pressure off his spinal cord???? idk..... but he DEF. had a substantial lump in his back and his back end was DEF. limp when i picked him up.... but after that i had no contact with him.....

he still has an injury and it seems swolen.... but other than that he seems fine...... the other 4 have no injury whatsoever

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

i came too late to save a baby..... and the little guy seems to have been VERY blue..... almost puget colored..... may have been a morph but i will be back from the 31 i have now down to 4 soon...... i also rescued 12 mantids

I found two dead garters in the mountains, both were blue like a puget. They start to turn blue after they have died.

You must release those mantids ASAP.... you actually have not rescued them, but instead, you are interfering with the end of their life cycle. If you want to see more mantids again next year, best to free those guys... they only have at most another month and a half before they die off, and now is the time when they mate and the females lay their egg sacs soon. Even if brought inside, a mantis will die before november is finished.

Shanley,

Snakes have been around for a long time before us, they are putting up with us now, and they will be here for a long time after us. Intervening will not help, if anything, you will doom them because they need to be on their way to their dens and delaying them will surely call for death. Females are always thin this time of year, they have had their babies and so of course they are down on their weight. They will eat what they can this month and some of next before they go into hibernation, and next spring is when they will really be able to bulk back up. What you are trying to justify as a rescue, is actually unbeknownst to you, dooming your local population...

I know for a fact from reading other threads that you tend to overfeed, and actually, I think you are interpereting average weighted garters that you find outside to be skinny when in reality, they are fine and you think they need to be fatter than they really should be. I remmber when you found Sooty, you said she was so thin she looked like she was going to die. I saw pictures of her right after you fed her, and she looked like an average female garter snake with a full tummy... possibly a little too full. I could tell by the picture that that snake was not underweight in the least. Even before being fed. Garters are naturally a long, thin snake, males especially, and females should always retain a slender appearance unless gravid. A female is overweight if she looks gravid all the time. the one with wrinkled skin probably has recently given birth, she will be fine. The best thing to do is to leave them be, this time of year is crucial for both older and young snakes as they scramble to bulk up before winter sets in. By catching them and stressing them out, you are taking time away that they could be spending preparing for winter. I know it's hard and I know you love them, but I think that you may love them too much in this case, just try to let them be on their way. We all love garters and we all hurt when we see one that doesn't make it, but we must remember that mother nature takes away, but she always gives back.

[Snake lover 3-25]

You must release those mantids ASAP.... you actually have not rescued them, but instead, you are interfering with the end of their life cycle. If you want to see more mantids again next year, best to free those guys... they only have at most another month and a half before they die off, and now is the time when they mate and the females lay their egg sacs soon. Even if brought inside, a mantis will die before november is finished.

lol yup.... found that out..... 3 mating pairs

all gone VERY soon.... lol don't want eggs!!!!!

Shanley,

Snakes have been around for a long time before us, they are putting up with us now, and they will be here for a long time after us. Intervening will not help, if anything, you will doom them because they need to be on their way to their dens and delaying them will surely call for death. Females are always thin this time of year, they have had their babies and so of course they are down on their weight. They will eat what they can this month and some of next before they go into hibernation, and next spring is when they will really be able to bulk back up. What you are trying to justify as a rescue, is actually unbeknownst to you, dooming your local population...

I know for a fact from reading other threads that you tend to overfeed, and actually, I think you are interpereting average weighted garters that you find outside to be skinny when in reality, they are fine and you think they need to be fatter than they really should be. I remmber when you found Sooty, you said she was so thin she looked like she was going to die. I saw pictures of her right after you fed her, and she looked like an average female garter snake with a full tummy... possibly a little too full. I could tell by the picture that that snake was not underweight in the least. Even before being fed. Garters are naturally a long, thin snake, males especially, and females should always retain a slender appearance unless gravid. A female is overweight if she looks gravid all the time. the one with wrinkled skin probably has recently given birth, she will be fine. The best thing to do is to leave them be, this time of year is crucial for both older and young snakes as they scramble to bulk up before winter sets in. By catching them and stressing them out, you are taking time away that they could be spending preparing for winter. I know it's hard and I know you love them, but I think that you may love them too much in this case, just try to let them be on their way. We all love garters and we all hurt when we see one that doesn't make it, but we must remember that mother nature takes away, but she always gives back.

thank you...... i tend to be one of those people that thinks everything needs help..... even when it doesn't.... the 4 adults will be released this weekend.... after the tractors gone

but sooty was thin too.... her skin was wrinkled and she was gravid..... and it's been almost a month since the other one had her babies..... and she's been fed alot.... but hasn't gained very much weight..... but maybe you're right and i shouldn't use mine as a basis for how they should look......

man!!! look at me i'm like one of those old ladies with 15 obeise dogs in denial

i'll try harder to change my ways.... i swear

thank you.

[infernalis]

Shanley, retain your enthusiasm, study the effects of urban growth on garter populations, and one day you can do something that will really make a difference

Lobby to save a marsh, make them build that mall 150 feet to the left

[Snake lover 3-25]

i hope so

[Loren]

Shanley, Wayne and the rest hit on a good point. If you catch, feed, release snakes, you may or may not help them, but, Put your energy towards things that will save the populations, like helping keep wild land wild and clean of polution and that sort of thing, you will help thousands of snakes.
Educating people on reptiles is another good way, as it helps clear up some of the fears that make people think that the only good snake is a dead one. Thats one reason I like doing the occasional show on native reptiles.

[Snake lover 3-25]

thank god our nature preserve next to our house became a preserve because it is on indian lands and would need to be excavated...... costing alot of money but i try and educate as many people as i can......