San Francisco garter snake

[Invisible Snake]

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The San Francisco Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia) is a slender multi-colored subspecies of the common garter snake. Designated as an endangered subspecies since the year 1967, it is endemic to San Mateo County and the extreme northern part of coastal Santa Cruz County in California. Some researchers estimate that there are only 1,000 to 2,000 adult snakes of the subspecies T. s. tetrataenia remaining. However, the full extent of the snakes' habitat has not been fully documented, and many snakes may utilize creeks and other waterways that are currently unexplored. This garter snake prefers wet and marshy areas, and because of its elusive nature, it is difficult to see or capture.

*I saw this shared on the garter snake FB page by View Profile: jaleely - Garter Snake Forum and I wanted to share it with you guys*

[ConcinusMan]

What I can't figure out is why that photographer feels the need to oversaturate all his photos. It annoys me as much as blurry phone pictures do.

[RedSidedSPR]

What I can't figure out is why that photographer feels the need to oversaturate all his photos. It annoys me as much as blurry phone pictures do.

If not more.

[snake man]

Still an awsome snake.

[RedSidedSPR]

No doubt.

[ConcinusMan]

They're OK I guess. *gets ready to dodge flying tomatoes*

[RedSidedSPR]

Hit me too, I honestly prefer quite a few snakes over those guys. They're pretty cool, but I'd take a lot of garters over them, visually speaking. Infernalis, concinnus..

[SilasBannook]

Relative to the San Fran Garter Snake (SFGS), the last 5-year Review by the US Fish and Wildlife Service relative to its support under the Endangered Species Preservation Act was published in 2006. I know funds have been low but I am hoping they are able to actually conduct a good survey of the SFGS population and ecosystem as it exists today. They did call for a new survey in 2011 (https://www.federalregister.gov/arti...nevada-and-the). Haven't seen the new report though.

[chris-uk]

I hope that they do a proper review and determine whether the wild population is at risk of extinction by a single unlucky event (or by continued pressure on their ecosystem). I think that the lack of coordinated captive breeding in US zoos means that should, for example, a super-storm hit San Francisco and decimate the current habitat... there is no option to re-introduce these snakes back into the wild.
I agree, they aren't the top snake on my list of beautiful garters, but they are stunning and deserving of protection.

[chris-uk]

The lottery jackpot here is £121m tomorrow night. If I win, how much would I need to donate to an election campaign to ensure that tetrataenia (and come to that gigas) are protected properly and a special licence is granted for a captive-breeding programme that would act as an ark if there was a natural disaster?