Identify this one

[Faunaofthenorth]

I'm about 99% sure that it is an Eastern garter (thamnophis sirtalis). The reason i know this, is that i am from northern MN, and i have one exactly the same, except way bigger, and i have caught countless numbers of the same ones. It might be T. s. parietalis, but i doubt it, cause i have a true T. s. parietalis, that i caught last summer and they aren't even supposed to be in the north eastern half of MN.

[Stefan-A]

Sorry for bumping this old thread, but maybe some of our newer members would like to give a shot at identifying this same one.




As far as I can tell, it's pretty much identical to the male I have (you can see a bit of him in the background) as far as the markings are concerned, except that the red is reduced. Both have 19 scale rows, 7 supralabials etc., although that's of lesser importance.

[adamanteus]

I would say parietalis, but all the conflicting arguments have knocked my confidence!

James.

[Stefan-A]

Well that's 3 votes for parietalis and one "might be parietalis, but I doubt it".

Personally, I'm abstaining. I know what I would like it to be, so I'm less than objective.

[adamanteus]

Stefan,
I just looked at that picture full size in the gallery....that's a really good photo!
James.

[ssssnakeluvr]

well, i'm still leaning towards parietalis. there are a lot of easterns that have orange and red, but i've seen lots of pics of red siders from Canada and a large number of them have reduced amounts of red. nice pics too!!!!

[Stefan-A]

Thanks for the compliments, but I've got better pictures than that in my archives.