I beleive it is illegal to collect puget sound garters, but I MAY be wrong. You might be able to legally keep one. Check your local laws. I know it's illegal to collect and sell them for profit!

If you can't get a true puget, why not opt for a blue northwestern? Thamnophis ordinoes, the northwestern garter snake, varies HUGELY. Some are brown, some are red, some are green... yellow...and some are almost identical to pugets, in that they are black and bright blue. Sometimes blue nothwesterns get sold as pugets by people who don't know what they are looking at. It takes an expierienced eye to tell the difference!