Great Wiggling Balls of Garter Snakes! ©

 

 

An Eastern Garter snake, photograph by the Author.

Two weekends ago, it was sunny and almost 80^oF (27^oC) and we were on a ten mile (16 kilometer) hike, in Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve, a New York State Preserve, located in Depew, New York, when we started to find snakes...lots of snakes!

 

A map of Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve, which can be found HERE.

Great Wiggling Balls of Garter Snakes...

 

A close up of some Eastern Garter snakes, wiggling in a ball, photograph by the Author.

And then we saw it, a big ball of twisting, wiggling garter snakes close to the path.

 

It was the first warm day of spring and I have never seen that many snakes all in one spot together.  I knew that they must be just coming out of hibernation.  At first, I thought that they were rolling around together, because they were still cold, but when I did some research, I found that just wasn’t so....

 

But before I get to what they were doing, let’s talk about Eastern Garter snakes, how I knew that that is what they were and about what these snakes do to survive the cold winters of northeastern United States and Canada.

 

Eastern Garter snakes, photograph by the Author.

Eastern Garter snakes...

 

Eastern Garter snakes, thamnophis sirtalis, are the most common snake to be found in New York state.  Its scientific name comes from the Greek word “thamnos” or "bush" and “ophio” which means "snake", and the Latin word “sirtalis” or "like a garter".  Besides being called the Eastern Garter snake or the Common Garter snake, depending on what part of North America you are from, they are also known as an adder, a blue spotted snake, a broad garter snake, Churchhill's garter snake, a common streaked snake, a common striped snake, a dusky garter snake, a garden snake, a grass garter snake, a green spotted garter snake, and a hooped snake¹.

 

Eastern Garter snake or an Eastern Ribbon Snake...

 

So how did you I know that these were Eastern Garter snakes and not the similar looking Eastern Ribbon snake? 

 

The range of the Eastern Garter and the Eastern Ribbon snake, adapted from “Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)”, by Amelia Gleaton and “Eastern Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis sauritus)”, by Christina Baker, found HERE and HERE.

Both the Eastern Garter snake and the Eastern Ribbon snake, thamnophis sauritus, can be found throughout most of eastern North America, with ranges that extend from Florida into Canada and west throughout the Mississippi watershed.  Because they both have three yellow stripes running up and down their bodies, and are about the same size, at 16-28 inches (41 to 71 cm) long; it is easiest to identify them by looking at their head markings.

 

Note the olive-green heads and yellowish upper lip scales, with vertical black marks, and the absence of vertical black and white lines before and after the eyes of these Eastern Garter snakes, photograph by the Author.

The easiest way to identify a snake as an Eastern Garter snake, is to look for its olive-green head, yellowish upper lip scales (called supralabial scales), with black vertical marks on the edges, and additionally these snakes do not have a black line behind, or a white bar in front of their eyes.  Also, on their bodies, look for three yellowish stripes, which run down the length of the green, black, or brown body of the snake, one down the center of the back and one down each side.  The stripes along the sides of the snake are low, occurring on scale rows, two and three.  Sometimes sections of the stripes can be missing and sometimes a checkerboard pattern is visible on the sides between the stripes.

 

To identify a snake as an Eastern Ribbon snake, look for a white upper lip, a head that is reddish-brown on top, a straight black line behind and a vertical white bar in front of each eye, and moreover Eastern Ribbon snakes do not have any black marks on their lip scales.  Like the garter snake, Eastern Ribbon snakes have three yellowish stripes running the length of their dark colored bodies, although these stripes are higher up on their sides and are found on scale rows, three and four.

 

An Eastern Garter snake, photograph by the Author.

“Brumation” and hibernacula...

 

It is cold during the winters in the northeastern parts of the United States and Canada, far too cold for an ectotherm (cold-blooded) snake to survive without hibernation, or as it is called in reptiles “brumation”, and that is just what garter snakes do!  Eastern Garter snakes, like other snakes, overwinter in old chipmunk or woodchuck dens, old stone walls, building foundations, or rock piles; these brumation sites are called “hibernacula”.  The best hibernaculum are below the local frost line or have a southern exposure and receive enough radiant heat from the Sun to prevent the snakes from freezing.  Dozens of snakes will den in a good site and will return to it year after year.  Also, congregating together helps the snakes to retain moisture.  Before entering brumation, a snake will stop eating for a couple of weeks, and once they enter the hibernacula and begin to brumate, their heartbeat, respiration and metabolism all slow down, and their temperature drops to between 35^o to 45^oF (2^o to 7^oC).  Eastern Garter snakes brumate (hibernate) from late October through late March to early April. 

 

Once Spring arrives, the male snakes leave the hibernacula first and wait for the females to leave.  Once the females leave the den, the males which emit pheromones to attract the females, surround them in a wiggling snake ball!  And that gets us to the question of just what were they doing?

 

Well, you probably guessed it, they were having wild snake sex! 

 

So next year, in the last few days of March or the first couple of days of April, take to the woods and look for Eastern Garter snakes just leaving their winter dens and rolling around in great wiggling balls of garter snakes.  If you don’t want to wait until next year to find the snakes leaving their den, watch my video “Great Wiggling Balls of Garter Snakes”, HERE.

 

Eastern Garter snakes, photograph by the Author.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Best By Date©”, where we will talk about if that food you found in your survival kit, the back of your cupboard, or that box is still good.

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Notes

 

¹ In this otherwise excellent resource, they mentioned that the eastern garter snake is also known as a “brown snake”, which maybe it is, however the brown snake is actually its own species and for more information on brown snakes read “Watch Your Step! ©”, HERE, or watch my video about the brown snake I almost stepped on, HERE.

 

From “Eastern Gartersnake, Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis”, The Official State Snake of Virginia”, by the Virginia Herpetological Society,

 

Sources

 

Baker, Christina and edited by Willson, J.D.; “Eastern Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis sauritus)” Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, https://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/thasau.htm, accessed April 16, 2021

 

Gleaton, Amelia and edited by Willson, J.D.; “Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)” Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, https://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/thasir.htm, accessed April 16, 2021

 

Mitchell, Sandra; “Where Do Snakes Go In Winter?”, March 19, 2020, The Adirondack Almanack, https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2020/03/where-do-snakes-go-in-winter.html, accessed April 16, 2021

 

O’Roark, Patrick; “Earth Matters: Garter snakes emerge for their grand coming-out party in March and April”, February 23, 2018, Daily Hampshire Gazette [Northampton, MA, © 2020 by H.S. Gere & Sons, Inc.], https://www.gazettenet.com/earth-matters-15670295, accessed April 16, 2021

 

The Royal Canadian Geographical Society, “Animal Facts: Common garter snake”, Canadian Geographic, [© 2020 Canadian Geographic Enterprises], https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/animal-facts-common-garter-snake, accessed April 16, 2021

 

Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife, “Common Garter Snake”, [Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife, Montpelier, VT, © 2021 State of Vermont]

https://vtfishandwildlife.com/learn-more/vermont-critters/reptiles/common-garter-snake, accessed April 16, 2021

 

“Common Gartersnake, Thamnophis sirtalis” [© 2021 Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas], https://www.vtherpatlas.org/herp-species-in-vermont/thamnophis-sirtalis/, accessed April 16, 2021

 

Virginia Herpetological Society, “Eastern Gartersnake, Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis”, The Official State Snake of Virginia”, [© 2021 Virginia Herpetological Society], https://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/reptiles/snakes/eastern-gartersnake/eastern_gartersnake.php, accessed April 16, 2021