California Garden Snake

It is important to be familiar with the appearance of a garden snake so that it doesn t frighten you.

California garden snake. Keep in mind that many species of snakes are similar in appearance and may be hard to tell apart. Despite having enlarged teeth the garter snakes lack an efficient means of delivering venom since their gums are comparatively. There is an excellent chance you ll find your snake here and you can skip the rest of this section.

Determine if the snake is a gartersnake appearance california gartersnakes are medium sized slender snakes with a head barely wider than the neck and scales on the back which are keeled having a ridge lengthwise on each scale. Four species and fourteen subspecies have been documented to date. 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 thamnophis sirtalis is the state reptile of massachusetts the length of garter snakes varies from 46 to 137 cm 18.

California is also a great garter snake destination. These small snakes are generally no more than two to three feet 61 91 m long with lengthwise markings in yellow red or white. Click on a name link to go to the main page for more pictures and information about a particular snake and its habitat.

These are pictures of california s indigenous snakes along with one introduced species and one that might occur in california. Unlike garter snakes water snakes are relatively boring in color and appearance brown with some darker colors mostly. Garter snake is a common name for the generally harmless small to medium sized snakes belonging to the genus thamnophis.

This harmless snake is common in southern california and less common in the san joaquin valley and foothills and is active during the day. Above are four different varieties of garter snakes one might encounter in the garden photos wikipedia closely related to garter snakes are water snakes nerodia species and these are also found frequently in gardens particularly in the northeastern us. Color can be brown tan black or brick red.

These colorful medium sized snakes are considered harmless since their mild neurotoxic venom is not deadly to humans. Sharp tailed snake many people find these tiny snakes on their property in northern california and in the sierra nevada foothills. The california red sided garter snake or red sided garter is a subspecies of common garter snakes found in north america.