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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Listening Point - General Discussion :: What kind of Garter snake is this ?
 
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missmolly
05/28/2022 01:07PM
 
Gartersnakamae Awesomeous, I believe.
 
Savage Voyageur
05/28/2022 08:14PM
 
Looks like a Noperopereptilia to me.
 
dogwoodgirl
05/28/2022 06:42PM
 
If it had pink eyes, I'm fairly certain it was an albino.
 
Jaywalker
05/28/2022 05:22PM
 
Cool snake! I know MN has a bunch of cool snakes that people very rarely see and I checked some of them out, but this really looks like a Garter snake - just really bleached out. I’ll be curious to see if any true snake-o-philes can shed some light.


Side note: I was once portaging from Jordan to Cattyman and saw a pile of about 200 garter snakes. Guess it was mating season. Fascinating and ultra-creepy at the same time.

 
Pinetree
05/28/2022 10:09PM
 
I have seen the brown Gartner snake in Yellowstone park. I think maybe I have in the BWCA also?
 
sedges
05/29/2022 09:18AM
 
Lots of garter snake color morphs in the wild, but they are pretty rare. A red or pink eye would make it an albino. There are blue, orange or red flame morph, melanistic/black morph and others. There are a few breeders that get strange combinations of garters.
 
rtbaum
05/29/2022 06:53PM
 
I think it may be entering a shed, reptiles will become quite opaque pre-shed.

 
Bearpath9
05/29/2022 12:59PM
 
sedges: "Lots of garter snake color morphs in the wild, but they are pretty rare. A red or pink eye would make it an albino. There are blue, orange or red flame morph, melanistic/black morph and others. There are a few breeders that get strange combinations of garters."


I think it is just a weird morph. I have an albino squirrel that I have conditioned to come up on my deck when I rattle a jar of peanuts. It's eyes are pink, whereas the snakes were a dark reddish color. I should have got better pics, but I was standing on the tip of its tail when I shot those two, and figured it had had enough stress and let it go.
 
Bearpath9
05/28/2022 11:27AM
 
Ran across this little guy today on my walk. I'm plenty familiar with Garter snakes, I've seen them all my life. Usually black, with yellow or red stripes. This one was a light tan color, lighter colored stripes and reddish eyes. First thought was albino, but I'm not too sure about that.
 
CrowWing42
06/05/2022 06:04AM
 
rtbaum: "I think it may be entering a shed, reptiles will become quite opaque pre-shed.
"



This is most likely the correct answer.
 
Bearpath9
05/30/2022 09:26AM
 
rtbaum: "I think it may be entering a shed, reptiles will become quite opaque pre-shed.
"



I tend to agree with that. I think it is a plains garter, but I still have problems with the markings.
 
plander
05/28/2022 08:36PM
 
Could be leucistic
 
Bearpath9
05/31/2022 11:10AM
 
naturboy12: "How long was it? By appearance it looks to be a Little Brown Snake (yep, super creative name, I know). But the pale garter snake like stripes are throwing me off a bit. "


I would guess about 18 inches long, and about the diameter of my index finger, which doesn't really help. But the length is pretty close. Yeah, the stripes are puzzling. I did take the pics to the visitor center in the main park, but it was Sunday, and nobody was around who could even make a guess.
 
naturboy12
05/31/2022 06:32AM
 
How long was it? By appearance it looks to be a Little Brown Snake (yep, super creative name, I know). But the pale garter snake like stripes are throwing me off a bit.