Wild caught YOUNG Garter snake, any advice please.

[ConcinusMan]

Let's not forget racoons, deer, coyotes, cougars, etc. popping up right in the middle of urban areas on a regular basis.

I don't know why the story says Wilsonville. That's not where it happened. It happened on Portland's west side near Aloha. (Merlo st. max stop)A couple of years ago a black bear was found sleeping in a tree in Vancouver's Central Park by Clark college. And lets not forget the cougar that turned up at Westfield shopping mall in Vancouver a few years back, and one turned up on Fourth Plain blvd by the vancouver VA medical center too. All very urban locations. just a couple of weeks ago I saw several NW garters basking on the sidewalk in downtown vancouver near the courthouse. Racoons regularly sleep in trees in downtown Portland too in the pearl district. Crazy.

Sleeping baby deer rescued from TriMet WES tracks - KPTV - FOX 12

[ConcinusMan]

Good morning,
I'm Heather, I'm new to this forum and keeping hatchling Garter snakes.

I missed this post but I'm sure by now you know that they don't hatch. The only snake in our area that lays eggs is Coluber constrictor mormon (=Coluber mormon) - Western Yellow-bellied Racer The only lizard in our area is also oviparous. Unlike other alligator lizards which lay eggs, the Northwestern Alligator lizard has live birth.

All garter snakes hold shelless eggs inside until they're full term. They incubate inside a clear membrane with blood vessels attached to mom's circulatory system to provide gas exchange (so they don't suffocate). Then they are born live, fully formed, and independent. Ovoviviparity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[doomkitty]

I missed this post but I'm sure by now you know that they don't hatch.

I am well aware of this now. Feel kinda silly for thinking so, but in all honesty at first I did not think them much different to Corn Snakes (and those hatch). I had lived in the UK for 12 years before moving back the PNW, over there the Corn snake (what I used to have) and Rat snake are the more common snake kept as a pet. It is absolutely fascinating how many reptiles don't lay a clutch here, yet the weather is relatively similar to the UK. Maybe this is evolutionary due to predators? I really had no idea. Cats and dogs I know, they are my patients after all.

[ConcinusMan]

I am well aware of this now. Feel kinda silly for thinking so

I don't know you would feel silly. Most reptiles do lay eggs.

[acovert]

We get coyotes right down on the corner of my street. Lovely animals, but they're a threat to my cat, who's kind of stupid. We also have a massive raccoon and his girl who live in the pine trees nearby. We live so close to Powell Butte (not sure if either of you know that place?) that we tend to get some interesting stuff, including rabbits. Deer have never wandered down, but I've seen them on the butte, along with rabbits, coyotes, waterfowl, and owls. And, of course, garter snakes! Unfortunately, we don't get any garter snakes in our yard. I'm not sure why. We used to have them all the time in my grandma's yard, but that stopped too.

[ConcinusMan]

We live so close to Powell Butte (not sure if either of you know that place?) that we tend to get some interesting stuff, including rabbits.

Sure, I know it. As far as rabbits are concerned, i see them in empty urban lots. They live almost any place there's grass and blackberry patches. They even live along I-5 in downtown Vancouver, right across the street from the red lion. (by the interstate bridge) i'm used to seeing those popup almost anywhere. Even the Clark County courthouse lawn.

The problem with snakes is, just having good summer habitat and a food source isn't enough. If they lose their overwintering den or half of them get killed every year on the way to and from the den because of a new road or development, they're going to eventually vanish.