Do garter snakes change color?

16 years ago

I saw a good sized garter snake in my front garden on and off all spring. I think it was blackish with yellow/white stripes running along it's body. I'll be honest, I am a little nervous around snakes so I didn't get too close. I believe in keeping a respectful distance LOL!

Anyway, I hadn't seen it in a while and this morning I saw a snake that seemed several inches longer, but it was brown and tan with a sort of diamond pattern on it. Again, I did not get too close, but this one was definitely a med brown with lighter tan/cream markings and bigger - maybe 24 - 30 inches.

Is this the same snake with a different color in the summer or has something else moved into my garden? Could this one have eaten the little black and yellow one? Do I need to have it relocated/removed since I have small kids (toddler up to 8 yo) for their safety? I wouldn't be too concerned, but this one had crawled out of the garden and was sunning on my front steps. I think it took 10 years off my life just seeing it there LOL!

THanks for any help!

Alexa

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Comments (6)

wayne_mo
16 years ago
Alexa,

Good question. Snakes can have a somewhat different appearance depending on how recently they have shed and can even vary slightly based on issues related to body temperature/surrounding area surface temperature. Both of your snakes sound like pattern variants of the Eastern Garter Snake. I think the most likely explanation, however, is that they are two separate individual snakes. Both sound like Eastern Garter Snakes so no worries.
caliloo
Original Author
16 years ago
Okay, then I will start breathing again LOL!

Would they share the same space in the garden peacefully? Maybe "garden" is too strong a word... it is more of a small planting bed (10 x 10 or so) next to my front steps. I guess I'm just surprised they can find enough food/water to support both of them in such a small place.

Thanks for the info you have already provided!

Alexa
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YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! I spotted my first snake today!! After all these years I finally spotted a black racer just after sunset. I got up close to be sure what kind it was and he stopped dead in his tracks. Remember they are just as scared of us as we are of them. As long as you leave them be they wont bother you. Now I am sure many will disagree but that is rather true. Most cases of snake bites involve some sort of disturbance to them. Though the disturbance may have been unintensional. I mean how did you know there was a snake under that overturned canoe next to the pond. As a child I found myself in an emergency room shortly after turning over a canoe. No not a snake bite, I was raised around snakes it was routine for me to use a large stick to turn over the canoe. Well that day the stick I was using snapped and went into my leg from the downward force of the canoe. A common phrase: "well I just stepped over the brush pile and he struck". Well you startled him when you came across. So, Yeah I get it. But if you see one in plain view and just avoid going near it then you will be OK. Now I know that may not hold true for all species but for most that is true. So why should all snakes be killed just because they are a snake? I ask that because thats what I hear from a LOT of people! "well any snake is a dead snake in my yard" a phrase that makes me cringe. A friend of mine many years ago brought a snake he had killed bragging about the copperhead. When I told him he had killed a corn snake he just couldn't believe it. I had to get a book out to show him. I never understood how the copperhead got that name when the corn snake has a lot more copper color than the copperhead. I don't know, does "copper" refer to something other than color? I suppose it has the darker color of tarnished copper sometimes but not usually on the head. Those darker colors are usually more mid body. Well I will have to keep quite about the snake. I don't want my neighbors to know they would probably freak.
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Weedsmakemecrazy - Well, My natural reaction is to scream when I see a snake while walking across the yard and see one unexpectedly. I do calm down a bit afterward. Lately I've found toads that have buried themselves in the mulch to cool off. When I dig they will finally leap out and I scream. Last year I saw a few baby Gardners in a drain pipe and it's taken me a while to get back there without thinking of them. I can work around them though - it must be a bit harder for you. I can pick up toads etc... if I choose. Spedigrees - He is a low energy Border Collie. He helps me in the garden a lot.
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I get garters, bulls and rattlers. Problem being that some of the bulls are so alike in color to the rattlers that I am not sure sometimes if I should let it go... or let it go headless. I wouldn't mind a few more around my place, I can pick them up at the swap lol. If you think about the phobia issues in this country there are quite a few: snakes, spiders, rodents, roaches, geese, horses, cows, dogs, etc. I think there is a phobia for just about everyone. I try not to let phobia get to me, but every so often, it sneaks up on me too. oakiris - holly- did you grow up in Maine? That is the only state I have heard of that does not have a poisonous snake. Just curious as to where else gets to make that claim. I grew up in AZ where I sometimes thought we had the most different types of poisonous snakes known to any region. Don't know if its true, but the one website shows 18 and somewhere around 50 non-venomous. Billie - Belinda
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In my opinion best advice is to seek treatment for phobia. I had a severe phobia of dogs that I had to get treated and it is very worth it and I think a lot of people that have more "socially acceptable phobias" (e.g. spiders or snakes rather than beloved dogs, people thought I was evil for being scared of dogs! even though I have been up to cottonmouths before and been fine, didn't bother me,... but as a kid I got CHASED DOWN by dogs and attacked so...). We share this world with a lot of creatures, it's something to get used to. Desensitization&exposure therapy is best to build yourself up first before you ever see one. That being said, eliminating brush piles in areas you frequent/maintain a lot, keeping it open will keep snakes out of those areas and make them favor more wild spots. Keeping things open tends to be best for the more cultivated areas of the garden anyway, to maintain airflow. ALSO snakes are often not very active in the day except after rains. They don't like being out in the open especially in the day because one of their main predators, hawks, can see them. I rarely see snakes around my house and I have a bunch of brush lol I've only seen them out at night (there's the cutest baby kingsnake but i digress). avoid times when snakes are most active and you'll be a lot less likely to see them. anyway best of luck treating your phobia, it's a hard road but very worth it to be free of it
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jpvt
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Snakes seem to get along well together. They appeared there for a reason, let's face it, so it's obviously good habitat for them. As for living peacefully together, sure they can. I lifted the tarp off one of my compost piles a couple weeks ago and there were two milk snakes and a group of 3-4 garter snakes, all close enough to one another to be touching. They spend the nights and cool morning hours under the tarp, no doubt for warmth. -jp
chuckr30
16 years ago
Snakes seem to be around areas where there are frogs. That has been my experience. Do you have frogs, like tree frogs, at your house? At my last house, we were not near a stream, but we had lots of tree frogs, and the occasional snake.

At a park there are occasional frogs (that we saw go plop in the water when we walked by) and we found 4 snakes in 30 minutes!

At my present house I have never seen a frog (occasional toads, about 1 per year) and I have never seen a snake.
DaveOdd
16 years ago
The second snake your seeing sound like it might be a Fox Snake or some other species of rat snake, and they specialize in eating rodents. So if taht is indeed what you saw, be glad he's there, because he's eating whatever rodents are around your house that attracted him. Rat Snakes are harmless to people but may coil in a defensive position if they feel threatened, but they can't really hurt you.
Stephanie Gibbs
2 years ago
I saw this in my yard. Looks like a garter snake but it changed colors when we got close to it. Any ideas?

Do garter snakes change color?

Comments (6)

wayne_mo

caliloo
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Do garter snakes change color?

Comments (6)

wayne_mo

calilooOriginal Author

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caliloo
Original Author