Species of the Month

July’s article written by Nick Nagtegaal, Co-Op Student - Hamilton District Christian High School

Eastern Garter snakes are probably a species of snake you have come across before in Southern Ontario. They are abundant and can survive in many landscapes. They live in wetlands, grasslands, fields, ditches, shorelines, and rocky areas. They have also adapted to human-adapted land and can live in parks and backyards. Their favourite place to live and hunt is near water because their prey is often amphibians. Eastern garter snake's diet consists of frogs, insects, earthworms, bird eggs, crayfish, mice, and even other snakes. Eastern garter snakes have a large number of animals looking to eat them. They include hawks, crows, snakes, shrews, turtles, raccoons, and coyotes. Eastern Garter snakes are most active in the day and they hunt by following the scent of their prey.

The Eastern garter snake can be hard to identify because of their many colour and pattern variations. As a guideline, they are often dark green ranging to black. They have three yellow stripes, one on the top and one on each side on the second and third scale rows. One variation of the Garter snake is melanistic and is black with no stripes. They can reach a length of around 45-80 cm in their mature years, and large females can grow to over a meter in length. Eastern Garter snakes breed in the spring after hibernation, while some breed in the fall. Females give birth to 15-20 young on average in mid to late summer. Eastern garter snakes are fairly abundant in southern Ontario because of their ability to adapt to human landscapes. Their biggest threat is vehicles. You have probably seen snakes run over on the road before. It is quite common and many snakes are killed every day. You can do your part to protect them by avoiding them on the road.