A beautiful Garter Snake was basking in the driveway one recent afternoon. It seems there are fewer snakes here every year and I’m always pleased to see one. I looked at her from a distance and noticed baby snakes beneath and around her.
I was witnessing a birth.
I ran to the house to get my camera, hoping she wouldn’t get spooked into hiding before I got back.
When I returned, she was in the same place, and I noticed blood under her head and a laceration on her belly. She was dead, the victim of an attack. The three babies around her, and one half born, were dead, too. I palpated her midsection to see if there were any more live little ones inside but felt nothing.
Garters mate in Autumn or Spring and females give birth to live young, as I had seen, rather than eggs. Females can have up to 40 babies who are immediately independent. I’m going to trust that there are 36 wee snakes who made their way into the world before the accident, and are hiding in the grass and shrubbery around the yard.
I couldn't bring myself to photograph the sadness but I wanted to mark the event with a post. Mom looked much like this, with a lovely blue-ish cast, and the wee babes were perfectly formed.
7 comments:
We haven't seen any garter snakes this year either, but then the heat and humidity have kept my walks to short ones....black snakes are bountiful though.
Hi Jain...I am not a snake person, We have the Garter,one they call a Milk Snake,which I don't think is there real name, and the Green grass snake. No poisnous ones!!
I know they are beneficial!! I haven't seen any in my yard this year..
What are shame I hope there are some babies that made it!!
So sad. Come to think of it, I've never seen a garter in my backyard since we've moved here two years ago.
I wonder what got to it. Are their any feral cats in the neighborhood?
I always lament when I see garter snakes flattened on the driveway, which happens all too frequently here since there's a lot of traffic on our natural area entrance drive. They must like to bask there and/or move on a surface that offers little resistance. Let's hope that you're surmise was accurate and there are many of her tiny offspring slithering through your woods.
Wanda, I’m curious about the lack of snakes this year. I also noticed that this is the first year that several wrens haven’t nested here, and I’m not hearing catbirds and mockingbirds as I have in the past. It was a long, cold, wet spring, so I’m hoping it’s just an off year and everyone returns next summer.
Grace, I didn’t used to be a snake person, either. I even got the willies if I touched a picture of one in a field guide! I learned to love ‘em, though. It could happen!
Milk Snake is the proper name of a snake; they sometimes hang around barns and were erroneously thought to suckle milk from cows.
I hope some babies made it, too. It would be just too sad if they didn’t.
Thomas, the evidence for a bad year for garters is mounting. And yes, now that you mention it, a feral cat has been coming into the yard on occasion. That would explain it. We encourage the dogs to discourage any cats, but they can’t be on duty 24/7.
Scott, my first thought when I realized she wasn’t alive was, “Omigod! I ran over her when I drove in the driveway tonight!” But her dorsal side was perfectly intact with no sign of tire tracks. Judging from her wounds, I think a cat is the most likely culprit. Good to know there are baby-slithering-vibes coming from around the country.
What a sad story, but I'm glad you shared it with us just the same. Sounds like another good reason to keep cats indoors (birds being my first reason). Hope some of the babies made it away safely.
Agreed, Heather, feral cats are a huge issue with me. Most of the popular literature focuses on bird predation but many other species must be affected, too.
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