Garter snake


Garter snake is a common name for the generally harmless, small to medium-sized snakes belonging to the genus Thamnophis. Endemic to North and Central America, species in the genus Thamnophis can be found from the subarctic plains of Canada to Costa Rica. The common garter snake is the state reptile of Massachusetts.
The length of garter snakes varies from 46 to 137cm, and it weighs approximately 140g. With no real consensus on the classification of species of Thamnophis, disagreement between taxonomists and sources such as field guides over whether two types of snakes are separate species or subspecies of the same species is common. Garter snakes are closely related to the genus Nerodia, with some species having been moved back and forth between genera.

Taxonomy

The genus Thamnophis was described by Leopold Fitzinger in 1843 as the genus for the garter snakes and ribbon snakes. Many snakes previously identified as their own genera or species have been reclassified as species or subspecies in Thamnophis. There are currently 35 species within the genus, with several subspecies within some of them.

Habitat

Garter snakes are present throughout most of North America. They have a wide distribution due to their varied diets and adaptability to different habitats, with varying proximity to water; however, in the western part of North America, these snakes are more aquatic than in the eastern portion. Garter snakes populate a variety of habitats, including forests, woodlands, fields, grasslands, and lawns, but never far away from some form of water, often an adjacent wetland, stream, or pond. This reflects the fact that amphibians are a large part of their diet.

Behavior

Garter snakes have complex systems of pheromonal communication. They can find other snakes by following their pheromone-scented trails. Male and female skin pheromones are so different as to be immediately distinguishable. However, male garter snakes sometimes produce both male and female pheromones. During the mating season, this ability fools other males into attempting to mate with them. This causes the transfer of heat to them in kleptothermy, which is an advantage immediately after hibernation, allowing them to become more active. Male snakes giving off both male and female pheromones have been shown to garner more copulations than normal males in the mating balls that form at the den when females enter the mating melee.
Garter snakes use the vomeronasal organ to communicate via pheromones through the tongue flicking behavior which gathers chemical cues in the environment. Upon entering the lumen of the organ, the chemical molecules will come into contact with the sensory cells which are attached to the neurosensory epithelium of the vomeronasal organ.
If disturbed, a garter snake may coil and strike, but typically it will hide its head and flail its tail. These snakes will also discharge a malodorous, musky-scented secretion from a gland near the cloaca. They often use these techniques to escape when ensnared by a predator. They will also slither into the water to escape a predator on land. Birds of prey, crows, egrets, herons, cranes, raccoons, otters, and other snake species will eat garter snakes, with even shrews and frogs eating the juveniles.
Being heterothermic, like all reptiles, garter snakes bask in the sun to regulate their body temperature. During brumation, garter snakes typically occupy large, communal sites called hibernacula. These snakes will migrate large distances to brumate.

Diet

Garter snakes, like all snakes, are carnivorous. Their diet consists of almost any creature they are capable of overpowering: slugs, earthworms, leeches, lizards, amphibians, minnows, and rodents. When living near water, they will eat other aquatic animals. The ribbon snake in particular favors frogs, readily eating them despite their strong chemical defenses. Food is swallowed whole. Garter snakes often adapt to eating whatever they can find and whenever they can find it because food can be either scarce or abundant. Although they feed mostly on live animals, they will sometimes eat eggs.

Venom

Garter snakes were long thought to be nonvenomous, but discoveries in the early 2000s revealed that they in fact produce a neurotoxic venom. Despite this, garter snakes cannot seriously injure or kill humans with the small amounts of comparatively mild venom they produce, and they also lack an effective means of delivering it. In a few very rare cases, some swelling and bruising have been reported. They do have enlarged teeth in the back of their mouths, but their gums are significantly larger, and the secretions of their Duvernoy's gland are only mildly toxic.
Evidence suggests that garter snake and newt populations share an evolutionary link in their levels of tetrodotoxin resistance, implying co-evolution between predator and prey. Garter snakes feeding upon toxic newts can also retain those toxins in their liver for weeks, making those snakes poisonous as well as venomous.

Reproduction

Garter snakes go into brumation before they mate. They stop eating for about two weeks beforehand to clear their stomachs of any food that would rot there otherwise. Garter snakes begin mating as soon as they emerge from brumation. During the mating season, the males mate with several females. In chillier parts of their range, male common garter snakes awaken from brumation first, giving themselves enough time to prepare to mate with females when they finally appear. Males come out of their dens and, as soon as the females begin coming out, surround them. Female garter snakes produce a specific pheromone that attracts male garter snakes in droves, sometimes leading to intense male-to-male competition and the formation of mating balls of up to 25 males per female. After copulation, a female leaves the den/mating area to find food and a place to give birth. Female garter snakes are able to store the male's sperm for years before fertilization. The young are incubated in the lower abdomen, at about the midpoint of the length of the female's body. Garter snakes are ovoviviparous, meaning they give birth to live young. However, this is different from being truly viviparous, which is seen in mammals. Gestation is two to three months in most species. As few as three or as many as 80 snakes are born in a single litter. The young are independent upon birth. On record, the greatest number of garter snakes reported to be born in a single litter is 98.

Conservation status

Despite the decline in their population from collection as pets, pollution of aquatic areas, and the introduction of American bullfrogs as potential predators, garter snakes are still some of the most commonly found reptiles in much of their ranges. The San Francisco garter snake, however, is an endangered subspecies and has been on the endangered list since 1969. Predation by crayfish has also been responsible for the decline of the narrow-headed garter snake.

Species and subspecies

Arranged alphabetically by scientific name:



Nota bene: In the above list, a binomial authority or a trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species or subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Thamnophis.