Just about every year I catch the sight of a Garter Snake. I am only assuming that it is the same one, I can’t really be sure, but since I always see it in about the same area, it is probably the same one. The snake usually surprises me slithering around in the greenhouse in the spring, but I didn’t see it this year until yesterday.
I was out weeding the garden and while taking my third five gallon bucket of weeds (I have let the weeds get out of hand) to the compost pile near the greenhouse, I caught a movement with my eye, and there was the Garter Snake sliding for cover. I saw it stop under some loose hay and went in to get my camera. When I returned the snake had come out a bit and I took the photo. The snake is about 16 inches (40 cm) in length.
The Red-Sided Garter snake is the only type of snake that live here. They are not poisonous, and eat tadpoles, frogs, salamanders, small fish, and leeches. They also eat slugs and insects. They nest communally over the winter often in boulders, and so I have always wondered if they have a nest in the big bouldered rockslide on the slope above out house.
I was happy to spot the snake yesterday, because I had been a bit concerned when I didn’t see it at all in the spring.
You can view my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
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