A Snake in the Grass

If you haven’t already, sooner or later you’re likely to come upon a small striped serpent in your backyard or perhaps even in your cellar. The eastern garter snake – most people call it “garden snake” – is a common resident of rural and even urban landscapes. Garter snakes don’t grow very long, a three-foot specimen would be a large one and anything bigger would be a “giant” for this species. The most distinguishing mark on its thin brown body is the prominent yellow stripe that runs down the center of its back, flanked by two less distinct stripes on each side.

The frogs, toads and salamanders that I wrote about in the last two blogs happen to be among the garter snake’s favorite foods. However, it will eat most other smaller creatures that cross its path including millipedes, spiders, earthworms, slugs, crayfish, fish, mice, nestling birds and even other smaller snakes. Garter snakes are one of the first snakes to emerge from hibernation in the spring here in the northeast. During the cold winter months they remain hidden and dormant inside rotting stumps and logs, old stone walls or in underground burrows.

Although two types of venomous snake are native to Pennsylvania – rattlesnakes and copperheads – your chances of coming upon them are slim to rare. All snakes can bite, however, and may do so if picked up, but the bites of garter snakes and most other species are not dangerous.