Wild Boyz Photography Photos of the wild
  • ABOUT
    • OUR MISSION
    • OUR TEAM
      • INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY
    • PARTNERS
      • NONPROFIT PARTNERS
      • PRINTING PARTNERS
    • GET INVOLVED
    • CREATIVE COMMONS
    • CONTACT
  • GALLERIES
    • May Gallery 2025
    • April Gallery 2025
    • March Gallery 2025
    • February Gallery 2025
    • January Gallery 2025
    • Archive 2024
      • January Gallery 2024
      • February Gallery 2024
      • March Gallery 2024
      • April Gallery 2024
      • May Gallery 2024
      • June Gallery 2024
      • July Gallery 2024
      • August Gallery 2024
      • September Gallery 2024
      • October Gallery 2024
      • Best of 2024 Gallery
    • Archive 2023
      • January Gallery 2023
      • February Gallery 2023
      • March Gallery 2023
      • April Gallery 2023
      • May Gallery 2023
      • June Gallery 2023
      • July Gallery 2023
      • August Gallery 2023
      • September Gallery 2023
      • October Gallery 2023
      • November Gallery 2023
      • Best of 2023 Gallery
    • Archive 2022
      • January Gallery 2022
      • February Gallery 2022
      • March Gallery 2022
      • April Gallery 2022
      • May Gallery 2022
      • June Gallery 2022
      • July Gallery 2022
      • August Gallery 2022
      • September Gallery 2022
      • October Gallery 2022
      • November Gallery 2022
    • Archive 2021
      • January Gallery 2021
      • February Gallery 2021
      • March Gallery 2021
      • April Gallery 2021
      • May Gallery 2021
      • June Gallery 2021
      • July Gallery 2021
      • August Gallery 2021
      • September Gallery 2021
      • October Gallery 2021
      • November Gallery 2021
      • Best of 2021 Gallery
    • ARCHIVE 2020
      • January Gallery 2020
      • February Gallery 2020
      • March Gallery 2020
      • April Gallery 2020
      • May Gallery 2020
      • June Gallery 2020
      • July Gallery 2020
      • August Gallery 2020
      • September Gallery 2020
      • October Gallery 2020
      • November Gallery 2020
      • Best of 2020 Gallery
    • ARCHIVE 2019
      • April Gallery 2019
      • May Gallery 2019
      • June Gallery 2019
      • July Gallery 2019
      • August Gallery 2019
      • September Gallery 2019
      • October Gallery 2019
      • November Gallery 2019
  • GUEST GALLERIES
    • LIZ MURPHY – NUDIBRANCHS
    • BILL SHAMICK – TURTLES
    • NICK IVERS
    • KBSTRRC
    • MELANIE CHENEY
    • BRUCE LEANDER
    • RELEAF MICHIGAN
    • THE XERCES SOCIETY
    • ROCK HOLLOW WOODS
    • OCEAN DEFENDERS ALLIANCE
    • VERMONT INSTITUTE OF NATURAL SCIENCE
    • SYCAMORE LAND TRUST
    • CORA BERCHEM – SAVE THE MANATEE CLUB
    • BRUCE LEANDER – WILDFLOWER CENTER
    • ALEX NEUFELD – CRF
    • WARD 8 WOODS
  • BLOG
  • |
  • DONATE
  • STORE
  • CARDS
  • ABOUT
    • OUR MISSION
    • OUR TEAM
      • INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY
    • PARTNERS
      • NONPROFIT PARTNERS
      • PRINTING PARTNERS
    • GET INVOLVED
    • CREATIVE COMMONS
    • CONTACT
  • GALLERIES
    • May Gallery 2025
    • April Gallery 2025
    • March Gallery 2025
    • February Gallery 2025
    • January Gallery 2025
    • Archive 2024
      • January Gallery 2024
      • February Gallery 2024
      • March Gallery 2024
      • April Gallery 2024
      • May Gallery 2024
      • June Gallery 2024
      • July Gallery 2024
      • August Gallery 2024
      • September Gallery 2024
      • October Gallery 2024
      • Best of 2024 Gallery
    • Archive 2023
      • January Gallery 2023
      • February Gallery 2023
      • March Gallery 2023
      • April Gallery 2023
      • May Gallery 2023
      • June Gallery 2023
      • July Gallery 2023
      • August Gallery 2023
      • September Gallery 2023
      • October Gallery 2023
      • November Gallery 2023
      • Best of 2023 Gallery
    • Archive 2022
      • January Gallery 2022
      • February Gallery 2022
      • March Gallery 2022
      • April Gallery 2022
      • May Gallery 2022
      • June Gallery 2022
      • July Gallery 2022
      • August Gallery 2022
      • September Gallery 2022
      • October Gallery 2022
      • November Gallery 2022
    • Archive 2021
      • January Gallery 2021
      • February Gallery 2021
      • March Gallery 2021
      • April Gallery 2021
      • May Gallery 2021
      • June Gallery 2021
      • July Gallery 2021
      • August Gallery 2021
      • September Gallery 2021
      • October Gallery 2021
      • November Gallery 2021
      • Best of 2021 Gallery
    • ARCHIVE 2020
      • January Gallery 2020
      • February Gallery 2020
      • March Gallery 2020
      • April Gallery 2020
      • May Gallery 2020
      • June Gallery 2020
      • July Gallery 2020
      • August Gallery 2020
      • September Gallery 2020
      • October Gallery 2020
      • November Gallery 2020
      • Best of 2020 Gallery
    • ARCHIVE 2019
      • April Gallery 2019
      • May Gallery 2019
      • June Gallery 2019
      • July Gallery 2019
      • August Gallery 2019
      • September Gallery 2019
      • October Gallery 2019
      • November Gallery 2019
  • GUEST GALLERIES
    • LIZ MURPHY – NUDIBRANCHS
    • BILL SHAMICK – TURTLES
    • NICK IVERS
    • KBSTRRC
    • MELANIE CHENEY
    • BRUCE LEANDER
    • RELEAF MICHIGAN
    • THE XERCES SOCIETY
    • ROCK HOLLOW WOODS
    • OCEAN DEFENDERS ALLIANCE
    • VERMONT INSTITUTE OF NATURAL SCIENCE
    • SYCAMORE LAND TRUST
    • CORA BERCHEM – SAVE THE MANATEE CLUB
    • BRUCE LEANDER – WILDFLOWER CENTER
    • ALEX NEUFELD – CRF
    • WARD 8 WOODS
  • BLOG
  • |
  • DONATE
  • STORE
  • CARDS
April 26, 2023  |  By Ben Ivers

Common Garter Snake

Common Garter Snake Live

Garter Snake - IUCN Conservation Status: Varies

This garter snake slithered across the trail right as I was about to set my foot down.

I took this photo of a common garter snake while hiking back from Round Knob on the Knobstone Trail in southern Indiana. With 150’ of prominence, Round Knob is the third highest prominence in Indiana, but the 12,036th highest prominence in the United States. It’s a real Midwest mountain. This garter snake slithered across the trail right as I was about to set my foot down. It was more spooked than we were, but it stopped long enough to take a few photos before it finished its journey across the trail.

Mallards

The scientific name for this species is Thamnophis sirtalis. It is in the subfamily Natricinae of the family of snakes Colubridae. There are many subspecies of the common garter snake: eastern garter snake, red-sided garter snake, California red-sided garter snake, red-spotted garter snake, New Mexico garter snake, Puget Sound garter snake, San Francisco garter snake, Chicago garter snake, maritime garter snake, Texas garter snake, valley garter snake, blue-striped garter snake, and the Chihuahua garter snake. This is likely an easter garter snake.

Like many other snakes, the common garter snake’s saliva is toxic to amphibians and other small animals. It has a mild venom in its saliva, but it is not dangerous to humans. Be careful when picking them up because they are known to emit a foul-smelling fluid from their postanal glands as a defense mechanism when handled or harmed. If a common garter snake were to eat a poisonous animal, like the American toad or the rough-skinned newt, it will be just fine. It can absorb the toxins of these animals. This then makes them toxic to other predators, which becomes a defense mechanism for the snake.

Sharptail Eel

Common garter snakes are found in habitats that support their diet. They can be found in forests fields, prairies, streams, wetlands, meadows, marshes, and ponds. They are more often than not found near water. Their habitats support the food that they most commonly eat: amphibians, earthworms, leeches, slugs, snails, insects, crayfish, fish, lizards, snakes, small birds, and rodents. They are effective hunters and can catch fast-moving creatures.

Like many other snakes, the common garter snake’s saliva is toxic to amphibians and other small animals.

Did you know?

  • Raccoons are a known predator of the common garter snake. Learn more about raccoons in this month’s gallery.
  • The San Francisco garter snake is endangered and can only be found in San Mateo County, California.
  • The common garter snake can be found throughout the North American continent and at many different elevations.
This Month's Gallery
field forest hiking indiana predator snake

Article by Ben Ivers

Previous StoryHarrier Hawk
Next StoryEastern Tiger Swallowtail

Related Articles

  • Fall Webworm Moth Live
    Fall Webworm Moth
  • Bicolored Striped Sweat Bee Live
    Bicolored Striped Sweat Bee

0 Comments

Leave your comment Cancel Reply

(will not be shared)

Donate

About

Matt Hamas and Ben Ivers here. We are focused on fostering a greater understanding and appreciation of the environment. We endeavor to bring you a unique perspective of the wild. Our photos are being placed here for you to enjoy. Please feel free to download any of the photos for your personal use. We are currently seeking partners for printing and developing photos.

  facebook twitter instagram

Categories

Tags

b&w backyard beach big bend bird black and white butterfly camouflage coral desert diving fish florida flower forest guest Hawaii hiking indiana insect kayaking lake landscape light macro maine mountain national park new hampshire ocean reef scuba spider sun sunrise sunset texas tree turtle underwater vermont water weather weird white mountains

WHO WE ARE

  • OUR TEAM
  • PRINTING PARTNERS
  • PARTNERS
  • CONTACT
  • STORE

WHAT WE DO

  • GALLERY
  • GET INVOLVED
  • BLOG
  • OUR MISSION

TRANSPARENCY

GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency

EIN: 83-3161428

ABOUT US

Matt Hamas and Ben Ivers here. We are focused on fostering a greater understanding and appreciation of the environment. We endeavor to bring you a unique perspective of the wild. Our photos are being placed here for you to enjoy. Please feel free to download any of the photos for your personal use. We are currently seeking partners for printing and developing photos.

FIND US ELSEWHERE

FacebookTwitterInstagram
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License