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Home > Animals > Reptiles > Common Garter Snake

COMMON GARTER SNAKE

The Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) is a snake indigenous to North America. Most garter snakes have a pattern of yellow stripes on a brown background. The saliva of a garter snake may be toxic to amphibians and other small animals. For humans, a bite is not dangerous, though it may cause slight itching, burning, and/or swelling. Most garter snakes also secrete a foul-smelling fluid from postanal glands when handled or harmed.

Common Garter Snake

Ten Facts about Common Garter Snake

  1. Their average length is about 1 metre (3.3 ft) to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft).
  2. In summer, it is most active in the morning and late afternoon; in cooler seasons or climates, it restricts its activity to the warm afternoons.
  3. Garter snakes generally mate in March or April, after hibernation.
  4. The species is ovoviviparous; females give birth to a litter of 12-15 live young any time from February through December.
  5. Sometimes a male snake will mate with a female before hibernation and the female will store the sperm internally until spring,
  6. The habitat of the garter snake ranges from forests, fields, and prairies to streams, wetlands, meadows, marshes, and ponds, and it is often found near water.
  7. Their diet consists mainly of amphibians and earthworms, but also fish, small birds, toads, and rodents.
  8. Animals that eat the Common Garter Snake include large fish(such as bass and catfish), bullfrogs, snapping turtles, milk snakes, hawks, skunks, foxes, and domestic cats.
  9. They can live up to 25 years.
  10. They can eat mammals bigger than their size.



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