Garter snake farm!

I have found out that an abandoned barn behind our house has become a breeding ground for garters. We ust have seen ten so far today; one huge female and a bunch of her babies that were sized about 6 iches long, which means that they were last year's brood. We found a huge 3-foot+ female today who was really mad at us capturing her (temporarily) and was striking like the ****ens at us. She tagged my boyfriend, but it was a minor bite. The amazing thing is, she was so flattened out, trying to look big and bad!
I love garters. I would never want to keep them indoors when I can just go out in the yard and watch them in their natural habitat. :)
I was unable to get a pic because of the inevitable dead camera battery; but the female looked just like this:
http://www.jonathanjessup.com/jjessup-garter-snake.jpg

Neat!

that's gotta be pretty neat. I've only seen one snake in the wild my entire life - and that was last year in a cemetary. I saw a Black Kingsnake and was pretty excited. You've increased your snake collection without all the work of feeding and cleaning!

Awsome pic! I like garters! They rule!

Gartersnakes are like flys around here. They are everywhere. I enjoy the catch and release system with them.

Very cool! Field herping without leaving your yard. :)

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You've increased your snake collection without all the work of feeding and cleaning!

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Yes, and technically, they do live in our house. Well, inside of the foundation. :)
It is always fun to tell visiting friends and relatives that snakes are living in the cornerstones of your house. They glance nervously into the dark corners of the living room!

I caught one *temporarily* about a month ago in my backyard, not like that, just a normal black and yellow garter, was about 2-3 feet long. I let it go on this hill and it just sat there for like an hour with its head up sunbathing I guess ^_^

Oh how GREAT! :D The only time I ever saw a `wild´ snake, was when my brother caught one in the dentists garden. The dentist called us (instead of the police or fire brigade or the local animal protection unit) because my brother was the only one he knew that handled snakes. (being a beginning herp at 16 years old. Now he´s almost 30, so it is a while back) Bit silly, but my bro´ went (with my: carefull he didn´t give a real discription!It COULD be a viper! trailing him :roll: ) and caught it. It was a simple Natrix natrix no longer than a foot long. He brought it home in a plastic jar, so he could show me and we set it free in the little nature reserve it probably came from in the first place. There it shot like greased lightning into the water and under the weeds. After a while it carefully poked its little head out and swam to shore. There it basked a little before disappearing into the undergrowth. :P
I really wish there were more snakes in the Netherlands.... :(

I was at camp the other day and saw one,they are cool little snakes.