What kind of snake....

...is this?

My sister sent me this pic of a snake she found in her yard this morning and was wanting to know what it was. She lives in Central Florida if that helps any.

I forgot to mention that she thought it to be about 3' long.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/MXMom/Snake.jpg

THANKS!

garter snake

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Originally Posted by SPJ

garter snake

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Really!

Obviously, I don't know much about snakes and I guess I never looked at a garter snake close enough to realize that they had such a mean look to 'em! Wow!

Thanks for the help!

Garters Flatten their neck?

Looks like a garter...
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herp...sssirtalis.htm

Looks like a garter to me too, especially after looking at Connie's link.


(**I also clicked the link for the blue striped garter all the way at the bottom of Connie's link.... Now I want one of those... I wonder if anyone breeds/sells them??)

I had no idea they could flatten their heads like that. Here in Florida, school kids are usually taught that if the head is triangular or flat, run. (This is the head shape usually associated with hots) If I'd seen that in my yard, I'd have run just because of the way it was holding itself. Imagine how silly I'd have felt afterwards learning it was a garter snake. :rolleyes:

Yup, definitely garter snake!

I used to go out and catch our native garters all the time...they'd flatten their necks, and compress their bodies almost flat, and they ARE mean. Musk...poop...musk...bite...pee...you get the idea.:rofl:

That my friend is an Eastern Garter Snake.

I too catch garter snakes around here (michigan). There is really a lack of cool species around here, or maybe I'm looking in the wrong places. Any Michiganders on here that can give me some tips?

I had neighbours years ago that were flat out terrified of snakes. The wife would make the husband go kill them with a shovel (blech). I hear her screaming one day and ran over to see what was wrong. Just a couple of garter snakes doing what comes naturally in their breeding season. Well they were trying to as best they could with Miss Hysterical jumping around screaming that they needed to be smacked to death with a shovel (double blech).

Btw it is not at all fun to try to move snakes that are wild and currently making with the happy snake thing but it was either that or see them killed by my idiot neighbours.

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Originally Posted by V1L3 DiaL3cT

That my friend is an Eastern Garter Snake.

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That would be my first guess, too. We saw one last summer/fall in our yard.

I'm in Micigan and I've caught everything from Easterns and Butlers to Black Rats and Blue Racers...

Looks just like my Eastern that I kept for about 6 years.

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Originally Posted by patthesnakeman

Garters Flatten their neck?

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They do not have any large size to them so they have to "bluff" thier way out of trouble some how :P

sneakerpro... i'm in southwest michigan and i can tell you that it really takes some persistance (better luck with 4 or 5 people hunting) to find anything but garters in this state. april and may are the best months for most species in michigan. binoculars can help in the morning or around sunset when snakes are basking... usually rotting logs will yield salamanders and other wierd animals while things like tree bark, and grassy edges between the forest and a field will yield snakes. also, artificial cover (tin, junk, etc) will almost always have something underneath it if you're looking in the right spots at the right time of year. i'd say garters and ribbons, as well as red backed salamanders, account for 80-90% of my finds though.