Thamnophis Thread

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Zach_Lim
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Thamnophis Thread

Post by Zach_Lim »

I am currently IN LOVE with Gartersnakes. In the past, I used to dismiss these stinky critters as "just another garter" while on the pursuit of more sought after snakes. However, things have changed as of late. I have been restricting my herping to the San Francisco city limits and the northern portion of San Mateo county (mere minutes south of SF). Thus, I see A LOT of garters now. I love the fact that I can either flip or find them on the crawl, unlike some snakes that are mostly under cover. I know I am late in the garter game, but humor me- post some of your favorite Thams!

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Young of last year Santa Cruz (Aquatic) Gartersnake from San Mateo County.
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Gravid Coast Gartersnake from San Mateo County.
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I really need to get my lifer San Francisco Gartersnake...
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Neil M
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by Neil M »

HA thats funny you post this now because today I too gained a real appreciation for garter snakes. Probably because I saw 6 of the most beautiful coast garters I had ever seen (they had just shed) and my very first Santa Cruz Garter. Sadly I don't have a picture of that one.

Here is how I usually see Coast Garter Snakes

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And here is how I saw them today

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The photo really doesn't do these guys justice, they were incredibly red!
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Chad M. Lane
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by Chad M. Lane »

Well not to many people know this, but Natalie does I'm a Thamnophis nut.

Here's a few I will post more later.

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Cheers,
Chad
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Porter
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by Porter »

That first Coastie looks awesome Zach! :thumb: Nice pics two you two chaps as well :beer: You got any belly pics of those San Mateo blue-eye? I bet there's a belly stripe (favorite garter) first time I saw the belly stripe... :shock: :mrgreen:

Here's some past finds:

(the blue in the brown eye of that frisco... :crazyeyes: :thumb: )
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Porter
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by Porter »

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Mountain Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Mountain Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Mountain Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Mountain Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Mountain Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Mountain Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Mountain Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Mountain Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Mountain Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Coast Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Coast Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Diablo Range Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Valley Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Valley Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Santa Cruz Garter by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Santa Cruz Garter by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Santa Cruz Garter by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Santa Cruz Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Sierra Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Sierra Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Sierra Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Sierra Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr

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Sierra Gartersnake by California Reptile & Amphibian Appreciation, on Flickr
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JAMAUGHN
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by JAMAUGHN »

Here are a few of my favorites from the last couple of years:

T.s. infernalis:
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California Red-sided Gartersnake, Thamnophis sirtalis infernalis by J. Maughn, on Flickr

T.s. fitchi:
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Valley Garter Snake, Thamnophis sitalis fitchi by J. Maughn, on Flickr

T.s. concinnus:
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Red-spotted Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis concinnus by J. Maughn, on Flickr

The ever-variable T. ordinoides:
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Northwestern Gartersnake, Thamnophis ordinoides by J. Maughn, on Flickr
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Northwestern Gartersnake, Thamnophis ordinoides by J. Maughn, on Flickr

T.a. atratus:
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Santa Cruz Garter Snake, Thamnophis atratus atratus by J. Maughn, on Flickr

T.e. elegans:
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Mountain Garter Snake, Thamnophis elegans elegans by J. Maughn, on Flickr

T.e. terrestris:
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Coast Garter Snake, Thamnophis elegans terrestris by J. Maughn, on Flickr

Another T. e. terrestris, that weird blue one I found last year:
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Coast Garter Snake, Thamnophis elegans terrestris by J. Maughn, on Flickr

JimM
hellihooks
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by hellihooks »

Only Nor cals I have are coasts and my little Santa Cruz..
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But, from what I understand, The Coasts from SC are often so red, they are referred to as the SC 'red-phase'. Here's one from Boulder Creek
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Besides an isolated pop of mountains, in the berdoos, all we typically get to see down here in So Cal are 2-stripes... :roll:
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:D jim
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JAMAUGHN
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by JAMAUGHN »

Your smily rolls its eyes, but I'd really like to see a two-striped one of these days...

Beautiful snakes, everyone. Long live Thamnophis.

JimM
Zach_Lim
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by Zach_Lim »

"Flame -phase" Coast Gartersnake from San Mateo County.
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Great finds, guys!

Neil- Sweet finds man! Too bad you couldn't snap a pic of the SC.
Chad- Amazing finds, dude. Love the infernalis shot...and that SC garter is SO yellow it looks unreal!
Porter- Nice snakes. That last shot of the frontal garter face makes it look so goofy haha! That stripped belly aquatic is sweet.
Jim- KILLER snakes! Love them all, ESPECIALLY the Red-spotted :shock:
Jim Hellihooks- Really cool double find of the SC and Coast garters! That "flame" phase coastie is a screamer!
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Brian Hubbs
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by Brian Hubbs »

I saw this baby snake last year. Anyone know what it is?

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[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/48237384@N08/6809651967/]

:lol: :lol: :lol:
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Porter
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by Porter »

JAMAUGHN: The blue coastie is one of the best I've seen! I love the blues...
hellihooks: The red on that things is insaine! ..I gotta find and photograph one of these days. A definate must in thamnophis variation
Zach: That thing reminds me of Daffy Duck everythime I look at it :lol: Shows how a little sun can effect the size of the pupil
Brian: Thats definately an Aquatic Gartersnake! :lol: :lol: :lol:
H. laoticus
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by H. laoticus »

Sigh...I need to move to northern CA :x
RobertH
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by RobertH »

Great idea, Zach :thumb:

Here are some of Nick's Thamnophis shots:

Two-Striped Gartersnake, Los Angeles County
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Diablo Range Gartersnake, Santa Clara County
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Coast Gartersnake, Santa Cruz County
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Red-Sided Gartersnake, Santa Clara County
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Aquatic Garternsnake, Marin County
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ChAn ... 0/1221.JPG

Sierra Gartersnake, Tulare County (from last weekend)
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Robert
devlin
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by devlin »

Alright Zach! Givin' the G's some respect! Here are some from the last 12 months or so. The first 5 were caught in 48 hrs, this last Saturday-Monday...From the moutains to the coast...

Mountain Garter
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Sierra Garter
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Aquatic Garter Intergrade
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Coast Garter
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CA Red-Sided Garter
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Two Striped Garter
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Valley Garter
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Aquatic Garter- Diablo Range
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Aquatic Garter- Santa Cruz
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San Francisco Garter
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:beer: Here's to gettin' stinky! :beer:
Zach_Lim
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by Zach_Lim »

Hubbs- :shock: Screamer!
Robert- Those are some great snakes! The shot of the snake on the creek bed is spectactular.
Devlin- DUDE! Every one of those garters are amazing. That infernalis...amazing...same with that tetra! I'm really digging that SC garter; it looks like such a bully!

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Coast Gartersnake from San Francisco (6/26/12) found on the crawl on an outting with Luke Talltree.
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Owen
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by Owen »

I love the theme. Many nice snakes here- so many that I really have nothing to add! Zach, I hope you get that SFGS soon. :thumb:
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Mr.Talltree
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by Mr.Talltree »

Confession: My name is Luke and I'm a Thamnoholic.

Dev & Chad--All your pictures and specimens are RIDICULOUS!!! Jealousy and envy are appropriate adjectives for my emotional state when I look at that stuff.

Zach--Great thread! Gartersnakes are awesome.

JimM--The blue/black coastie made my head explode! So cool!

Here are a few of my finds.

Shasta county Mountain Garter
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A few San Francisco Coast Garters
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Here's a Marin county burgundy Coast Garter--quite possibly the stankiest snake I've ever laid my paws on.
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And last but not least--a Marin county Red-sided Garter getting ready to shed.
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As you can see, I really need to find more species of garters. I need SF's, Valley's, Aquatics of all sorts, and more Red-sideds.

Luke-
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Neil M
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by Neil M »

Zach- That's a huge coastie for San Francisco! Nice find

Luke- I might be able to help if it's valley garter snakes you are after
Zach_Lim
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by Zach_Lim »

Coastal San Mateo county Coast Gartersnake. They get MUCH redder in San Mateo (to the point of being a red snake) but this one had a nice contrast.
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San Mateo county "Flame Phase" Coast Gartersnake from today (7/3). In shed.
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And for fun, cute little boa shed. One of three boa sheds found in the area that the Flame garter was found.
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El Garia
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by El Garia »

Excellent thread, Zach. You sure do find a lot of pre-shed snakes. That flame phase Coast should be a real looker once it sheds. I don't know if you've seen our Coasts, but they fugly! I need to get up that way for some Coasts and 'another' Garter.
Have you found any RSG?
Zach_Lim
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by Zach_Lim »

El Garia wrote:Excellent thread, Zach. You sure do find a lot of pre-shed snakes. That flame phase Coast should be a real looker once it sheds. I don't know if you've seen our Coasts, but they fugly! I need to get up that way for some Coasts and 'another' Garter.
Have you found any RSG?
Hey El,

I do find a lot of pre-shed/in shed snakes :? The "Flame Phase" Coasties are some of the prettiest garters, in my opinion, and this particular has quite the large population of them. That is, this was the first time I checked the particular junk pile where the Flame was found, but I have found many of them near the area.

I have never seen a Coast in Santa Clara county (Hell, I've only really herped there like 4 times haha!). Come up here anytime man! Let's hit the ponds!

As for RSGS, I have seen a Marin county "blue" Infernalis when I went out with Talltree and Devlin. One got away from me, so I don't count RSGS as being checked off my life list yet.
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Mr.Talltree
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by Mr.Talltree »

Awesome flame phase! Did you go to the area we went to the other day?
Zach_Lim
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by Zach_Lim »

Mr.Talltree wrote:Awesome flame phase! Did you go to the area we went to the other day?
Nope, somewhere else ;) Gotta thank Neil....
Zach_Lim
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Re: Thamnophis Thread

Post by Zach_Lim »

"Multi-striped" Atratus vs "Wide-stripe" Atratus. Both from San Mateo county far from water.

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