Thamnophis sirtalis in Reily, Ohio

On April 2, at 4:00 the class took a trip to a watershed of the Miami River at Reily, Ohio which is about a 15 minute drive from the University of Miami. The weather was a nice 60 degrees F (nice for Ohio) with only a slight breeze. After a couple of hours of tredding through water and getting soaked socks and pants, I had only found one Southern two-lined salamander. Then my luck started coming around. I found some salamander egg clutches and began uncover many Red-backed salamanders, but I still had not uncovered a species which was not yet seen by our class. We then began to turn around to go back to school. For the hike back, anyone to uncover a snake was to be given kudos. When almost back to the vans, a snake slithered right by my feet by the rocky shore of the watershed. It surprised me so much that I only yelled "SNAKE!" and just stared at it. After a few moments, I gained my conscience back and snagged it. It wrapped around my arm a few times and released a musky pheromone on my hands and arm. After a quick study of its coloration and lined body, I realized it was a Thamnophis sirtalis, or Eastern garter snake. It had solid yellow lines and a checkerboard pattern of dark spots which is common among these snakes. They are active night and day but are more active during the day as they hunt and bask in the sun. They hunt for frogs, salamanders, earthworms and even small fish. They are preyed upon by larger snakes such as the Black Rat Snake and by Hawks. Eastern Garter Snakes mate in March and May and may form breeding balls when there are multiple males. A breeding ball is when the snakes wrap themselves around each other and try to mate. Females give birth to live young (no eggs), up to 50 at a time, and can be 9 inches long and they can grow to be 4 feet long.

posted by Alex Hamad