Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
Moderator: Scott Waters
Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
These were all found this week within a 500 foot radius at a boardline that I have in NE Ohio. I've probably seen 50-60 individual garter snakes there (as well as a few Eastern Milks and DeKay's). The photos give an idea as to some of their different "looks."
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
tspuckler:
Am I correct in assuming all snake photos are of the Common Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis?
It is my understanding that this type of color polymorphism (if that is the correct terminology) occurs in a good number of species of snakes. For instance, here in western Oregon, a similar situation occurs with the Northwestern Garter Snake, Thamnophis ordinoides. Where one finds an aggregation of several to many specimens, few if any snakes are identical in basic ground color, striping, and blotching. It is as if you have come across a number of different species all together.
Further south along the coast of SW Oregon to central Calif., I believe a similar scenario occurs with the Wandering Garter Snake, Thamnophis elegans. Perhaps Dr. Sam Sweet would chime in with a more professional assessment. (See his post on a pattern variant in C. oreganus.)
Richard F. Hoyer (Corvallis, Oregon)
Am I correct in assuming all snake photos are of the Common Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis?
It is my understanding that this type of color polymorphism (if that is the correct terminology) occurs in a good number of species of snakes. For instance, here in western Oregon, a similar situation occurs with the Northwestern Garter Snake, Thamnophis ordinoides. Where one finds an aggregation of several to many specimens, few if any snakes are identical in basic ground color, striping, and blotching. It is as if you have come across a number of different species all together.
Further south along the coast of SW Oregon to central Calif., I believe a similar scenario occurs with the Wandering Garter Snake, Thamnophis elegans. Perhaps Dr. Sam Sweet would chime in with a more professional assessment. (See his post on a pattern variant in C. oreganus.)
Richard F. Hoyer (Corvallis, Oregon)
Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
Richard,
Yes, all the same subspecies of Common Garter Snake. I've found Coast Garter Snakes to be variable as well, but not within a specific spot, where there usually tends to be one or two "looks." And I agree that it occurs in a good number of snakes - yet it's still fun to document.
Tim
Yes, all the same subspecies of Common Garter Snake. I've found Coast Garter Snakes to be variable as well, but not within a specific spot, where there usually tends to be one or two "looks." And I agree that it occurs in a good number of snakes - yet it's still fun to document.
Tim
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
That is one of the best pictures ever posted on this site. Fantastic.
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
Very cool. So many beautiful forms of garters with reds and blues being my favorites. If they weren't native to here and common, far more people would be obsessed with them lol
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
My oh my, that photo is the stuff of dreams
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
I dig the variations of Eastern Garters! Thanks for giving us a look.
Tim
Tim
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
Some of those Garter Snakes look like Milk Snakes.
Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
That last picture looks like the herper equivalent of a jar full of jelly beans where we win something by guessing the correct number of snakes I think I might just pass out if I ever flip some AC and see that many snakes all at once. Very nice
Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
I really got to head out your way, Tim...
Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
Haha, I'd probably have the same reaction! Love the garters! Thanks for sharing them with usTravisK wrote:That last picture looks like the herper equivalent of a jar full of jelly beans where we win something by guessing the correct number of snakes I think I might just pass out if I ever flip some AC and see that many snakes all at once. Very nice
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
I remember when this picture was going around Facebook, and it is no less spectacular now than it was then.tspuckler wrote:Richard,
Yes, all the same subspecies of Common Garter Snake. I've found Coast Garter Snakes to be variable as well, but not within a specific spot, where there usually tends to be one or two "looks." And I agree that it occurs in a good number of snakes - yet it's still fun to document.
Tim
We have some amazing variations in Massachusetts as well:
DSCN1364 by ZantiMissKnit, on Flickr
DSCN5628 by ZantiMissKnit, on Flickr
DSC_0033 by ZantiMissKnit, on Flickr
DSCN8515 by ZantiMissKnit, on Flickr
Disappearing dorsal stripe by ZantiMissKnit, on Flickr
Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
Very cool post. I notice a wide variety in them over here as well. Hognose too. Great pics, thanks for putting this post together.
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
Here is one of the very red garters from Oneida County, New York.
DSCN2213 by ZantiMissKnit, on Flickr
DSCN2213 by ZantiMissKnit, on Flickr
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
WHOA!!! That blue dorsal stripe!
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
This is an awesome thread. I'm a definitely a Thamnophis fan.
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
Very cool post. Reminds me of the variation we have in the Coast Garters out here in the SF Bay Area.
Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
Here's one that I found in Ottawa County (OH) in May of this year.
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
New Jersey Pinelands -
Southeast Pennsylvania -
Southeast Pennsylvania -
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
This is my favorite post of the summer.
Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
This is one of the more interesting garter snakes I've seen- this is a brick-red individual found on the eastern shore of MD back in 2010.
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
From south Alabama, last year:
garter by Tamara McConnell1, on Flickr
garter in grass by Tamara McConnell1, on Flickr
Baby, from 2012:
garter by Tamara McConnell1, on Flickr
garter by Tamara McConnell1, on Flickr
garter in grass by Tamara McConnell1, on Flickr
Baby, from 2012:
garter by Tamara McConnell1, on Flickr
Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
That orange one from bama is a stunner!
I am amazed by the amount of garters in (far) NE ohio. Everytime I am out/ up there, it seems like theres no way Im seeing less than 50 of them.
I am amazed by the amount of garters in (far) NE ohio. Everytime I am out/ up there, it seems like theres no way Im seeing less than 50 of them.
Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
This was a cool post, I love the variety. When I was a little kid and solely id'ing stuff from the pics in the Audubon field guide, I thought I was finding several species of garter snakes around my grandparents house in upstate NY. Only as I got older did I realize they were all the same.
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
OMG Tamara!! That first one orange one is the stuff!! Maybe I'll throw some up in a bit.
Tim
Tim
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
All this diversity, especially of the eastern race, is great.
TB
Tim, your 3rd is pretty impressive too!
TB
I have to second that.That first one orange one is the stuff!!
Tim, your 3rd is pretty impressive too!
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
This is a pretty typical garter from the east coast of central Florida.
Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
Some spectacular stuff being posted here! This is my favorite out-of-state Eastern Garter Snake - from Union County, IL.
Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
New favorite thread
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
I thought this guy had some nice colors. Fairfield County, CT.
...and this one seemed to glow. Fairfield County, CT.
Classic striped. Middlesex County, CT.
...and this one seemed to glow. Fairfield County, CT.
Classic striped. Middlesex County, CT.
Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
Seems like there are only a few colors they don't represent. So far I have seen:
Green
Yellow
Orange
Brown
Blue
Red
Black
Tan
Cream
If anybody has a purple one, then I think that about covers the available colors.
Green
Yellow
Orange
Brown
Blue
Red
Black
Tan
Cream
If anybody has a purple one, then I think that about covers the available colors.
Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
Here's another Eastern a bit different from the ones posted. I would say, "Why isn't that a red-sided?", but all the maps say Eastern.
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
A few coastal Texas animals
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Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
Individual Sirtalis that I have found in Cape May County, NJ have a substantial amount of red. This might be due to residue tannin. Another Pine Barrens specimen that sadly slid away before I could photographed it was a gorgeous rusty red.
Eastern Garter Snake by Justin (NoNameKey), on Flickr
Eastern Garter Snake by Justin (NoNameKey), on Flickr
Specimens near my area in Mercer County, NJ can vary somewhat. Here are some that I have found underneath my board lines. Most of them are speckled with lots of spotting and large vertebral stripes. I rarely see garters with the classic black dorsum and yellow stripes pattern. A few Garter's I've had under my boards showed some substantial amounts of red or mahogany.
Eastern Gartersnakes by Justin (NoNameKey), on Flickr
Eastern Gartersnake by Justin (NoNameKey), on Flickr
Yearling Eastern Gartersnake by Justin (NoNameKey), on Flickr
Specimens I have found in Maryland seemed to have the same dominant color, but some seem to be more "spotty" than others.
Eastern Gartersnake by Justin (NoNameKey), on Flickr
Eastern Gartersnake by Justin (NoNameKey), on Flickr
There are also some interesting publications regarding Garter Snake polymorphism and color variation. Some populations that are melanistic seem to be Mendelian in their inheritance of color patterns. I haven't had the time to read all of these, but they all seem to be good reads. Mooi et al. (2011) is the newest and is pretty interesting.
Carpenter, C. C. 1954. The presence and variation of lateral red coloration in a population of common garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis). Herpetologica 10:89–91.
Fitch, H. S. 1941. Geographic variation in garter snakes of the species Thamnophis sirtalis in the Pacific Coast region of North America. American Midland Naturalist 26:570–592.
King, R. B. 1988. Polymorphic populations of the garter snake Thamnophis sirtalis near Lake Erie. Herpetologica 44:451–458.
King, R. B. 2003. Mendelian inheritance of melanism in the garter snake Thamnophis sirtalis. Herpetologica 59:486–489.
Lawson, R. and R. B. King. 1996. Gene flow and melanism in Lake Erie garter snake populations. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 59:1–19.
Mooi, R. D., Wiens, J. P., & Casper, G. S. (2011). Extreme color variation within populations of the Common Gartersnake, Thamnophis sirtalis, in central North America, with implications for subspecies status. Copeia, 2011(2), 187-200.
Placyk, J. S., G. M. Burghardt, R. L. Small, R. B. King, G. S. Casper, and J. W. Robinson. 2007. Post-glacial recolonization of the Great Lakes region by the common gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis) inferred from mtDNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 43:452–467.
Westphal, M. 2007. On the evolution of correlated color traits in Garter Snakes. Unpubl. Ph.D. diss., Oregon State University, Portland, Oregon.
Westphal, M. and T. Morgan. 2010. Quantitative genetics of pigmentation development in 2 populations of the Common Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis. Journal of Heredity 101:573–580.
Regardless, Garter Snakes are awesome. I myself am guilty of not appreciating them to their full level.
- Justin
Eastern Garter Snake by Justin (NoNameKey), on Flickr
Eastern Garter Snake by Justin (NoNameKey), on Flickr
Specimens near my area in Mercer County, NJ can vary somewhat. Here are some that I have found underneath my board lines. Most of them are speckled with lots of spotting and large vertebral stripes. I rarely see garters with the classic black dorsum and yellow stripes pattern. A few Garter's I've had under my boards showed some substantial amounts of red or mahogany.
Eastern Gartersnakes by Justin (NoNameKey), on Flickr
Eastern Gartersnake by Justin (NoNameKey), on Flickr
Yearling Eastern Gartersnake by Justin (NoNameKey), on Flickr
Specimens I have found in Maryland seemed to have the same dominant color, but some seem to be more "spotty" than others.
Eastern Gartersnake by Justin (NoNameKey), on Flickr
Eastern Gartersnake by Justin (NoNameKey), on Flickr
There are also some interesting publications regarding Garter Snake polymorphism and color variation. Some populations that are melanistic seem to be Mendelian in their inheritance of color patterns. I haven't had the time to read all of these, but they all seem to be good reads. Mooi et al. (2011) is the newest and is pretty interesting.
Carpenter, C. C. 1954. The presence and variation of lateral red coloration in a population of common garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis). Herpetologica 10:89–91.
Fitch, H. S. 1941. Geographic variation in garter snakes of the species Thamnophis sirtalis in the Pacific Coast region of North America. American Midland Naturalist 26:570–592.
King, R. B. 1988. Polymorphic populations of the garter snake Thamnophis sirtalis near Lake Erie. Herpetologica 44:451–458.
King, R. B. 2003. Mendelian inheritance of melanism in the garter snake Thamnophis sirtalis. Herpetologica 59:486–489.
Lawson, R. and R. B. King. 1996. Gene flow and melanism in Lake Erie garter snake populations. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 59:1–19.
Mooi, R. D., Wiens, J. P., & Casper, G. S. (2011). Extreme color variation within populations of the Common Gartersnake, Thamnophis sirtalis, in central North America, with implications for subspecies status. Copeia, 2011(2), 187-200.
Placyk, J. S., G. M. Burghardt, R. L. Small, R. B. King, G. S. Casper, and J. W. Robinson. 2007. Post-glacial recolonization of the Great Lakes region by the common gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis) inferred from mtDNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 43:452–467.
Westphal, M. 2007. On the evolution of correlated color traits in Garter Snakes. Unpubl. Ph.D. diss., Oregon State University, Portland, Oregon.
Westphal, M. and T. Morgan. 2010. Quantitative genetics of pigmentation development in 2 populations of the Common Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis. Journal of Heredity 101:573–580.
Regardless, Garter Snakes are awesome. I myself am guilty of not appreciating them to their full level.
- Justin
Re: Color and Pattern Variations in Eastern Garter Snakes
Here's a series from last summer of snakes from the very same spot as my original post: