No April Fool's joke

[count dewclaw]

Found this little "guy" in my yard today.



This is the first one I've seen outside this year. I tried to shoo him over by the snowdrops for a picture, but he didn't want to cooperate.

[reptileparadise]

Very nice! Would love to find some garters in my backyard!

[Stefan-A]

It was almost perfect weather for finding snakes today. It was sunny and warm and almost completely calm. Should start looking through maps of the area and see if I could find any places that would be likely to have dens.

Did you know grass snakes often form mating balls, just like garters?

[ssssnakeluvr]

I tried looking this morning.....can't find them in the snow!!

[count dewclaw]

Did you know grass snakes often form mating balls, just like garters?

No, I did not. But that's pretty cool. A few years ago we witnessed a mating ball of garters in our yard. The kids thought it was weird

[adamanteus]

I didn't know that, Stefan. I've witnessed quite a few wild matings, but never seen a mating ball. I guess it would depend on population densities?

Nice picture, LeAnn. The only thing in my back yard is the shadow of my house!

[Sid]

Great photo, LeAnn. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[Stefan-A]

I didn't know that, Stefan. I've witnessed quite a few wild matings, but never seen a mating ball. I guess it would depend on population densities?

I think it depends on how far north you are. A shorter summer forces them to hurry up and also reduces the number of places where they can survive the winter. So a lot of grass snakes inevitably end up in the same place.

[adamanteus]

That makes sense. You don't have a picture do you?

[anji1971]

It was almost perfect weather for finding snakes today. It was sunny and warm and almost completely calm. Should start looking through maps of the area and see if I could find any places that would be likely to have dens.

Okay, now that's just not fair -- it's warm enough to find snakes in Finland and here I'm still freezing my butt off!