Specifically To: "larryl 7 Southern Oregon"... Your reply was a bit thoughtless regarding your comment referring that 'you built a pond - deal with it' attitude. I am deathly afraid of snakes, just the sight and I go into a panic attack and vomit - all because of just the sight whether it be non-poisonous or poisonous, doesn't matter. Everyone understand having a water garden brings in all types of wildlife...being a lover of ALL animals, including reptiles, I get an emotional attachment to the various creatures that live in my pond. It is obvious snakes have to eat, but I don't necessarily want them to eat from my personal, nurtured pond. You wouldn't want animals eating veggies or flowers from a garden you worked hard at maintaining? So instead of dishing out attitude to those of us that love the pleasure and beauty the ponds and the inhabitants bring to us, try instead giving us useful info, not flippant, sarcastic comments that help no one. This is a forum for us to ask for help and get 'real' advice, not a platform for your opinion. And don't forget, snakes can be a real problem for a lot of people in a lot of different ways.

gnomey & all you others who freak out over snakes need to come & see me. My DH was just like you when we first started dating & couldn't even be in the same room (big chicken, the snake was in a cage). The only good snake was a dead one. We volunteer with our local animal welfare org & take our pets to animal education opportunities. There are usually a couple more pets than people to hold them so we are always looking for extra hands. My DH thought I was kidding when I told him he would just have to get over it because we needed the help. In a matter of weeks, he was a "snakehandler" & we even went on to have a few of our own. They are not cold (just room temp), not slimey or wet & they feel like a piece of good leather. They are not interested in you if you are too big to eat & usually just want to get away & hide. Walk heavy & when they feel your vibrations, they will crawl off. So visit me & I will help you with your fear. Dave, They love chipmunks. If you have chippies & a place for the snakes to hide, they will come. Linda

"I've had no experience with queen snakes." I understand, and I think that this is also true of the others who are calling it a Queen Snake. For Mike and I, who have each seen many, many Queen Snakes and many, many Gartersnakes, it is painfully obvious that this is a Gartersnake. "that lighting and color in photography can be misleading" I see your point very well. But...the camera is not playing tricks here. It shows a dorsal stripe and red banding because they do indeed exist. "...and never seen such a patternless species whether in shed or not" But which is more likely, a Gartersnake with some pattern lacking? or a Queen Snake with a Garter-esque head, dorsal stripe, red-banding, and found far from water? "That being said, I can't be sure of the species." That's really great to hear someone say. I'm glad that someone can admit that they're not "100% sure" it's a Queen Snake, because it is not. This is a Gartersnake. -Todd ...oh, and to keep it interesting, here's a real Queen Snake found a few days ago in western Indiana.

Wow, goregous colors near the belly! It is an aberrant Eastern Garter Snake. The Eastern Garter Snake shows tremendous variation in pattern even within a single geographic region and the reddish coloring Eastern Garters while uncommon do seem to appear from time to time, especially in the western part of the Eastern Garter Snake's range (Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Western Kentucky, Arkansas etc.). I've seen about three similar to the one above in Illinois (while I have seen many many more normal phased snakes). Red-Sided, Valley, and some of the western forms of garter snakes that have red on them as a regular part of their pattern are in the same species as Eastern Garter Snakes but a different subspecies. Seems over time the west favored color morphs that had red on them and eventually that mutation which is still an aberration in eastern snakes became the norm.