California Red-sided Garter pick up

[Albert Clark]

They are beautiful. Absolutely the coolest looking of the Garter Snakes.

Am I mistaken or were these once considered a threatened species? I remember when I was a kid back in the very early 70's I would go to 7/11 which is a convenience store in the Midwest. The sold Slurpies (slush drinks) and the plastic cups were all endangered species. I could have sworn the red sided garter was on one of the cups.

No, not the California. Red sided. The threatened and protected garter is the San Francisco garter (thamnophis sirtalis tetratenia) and still is. They do look similar in coloration but the S.F. garter can have more definitive and vivid colors depending on locale. They are still protected but there is a big problem now with people collecting them from the wild despite their status under federal laws.