Eastern Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)

Comments

Posted by Bob Ferguson (brick911) on Feb 18, 2011 at 09:15 AM

I can agree with all of that. However looking at the preceding days temps, it was still surprising. Those lows were brutal. If some of those nights stayed above freezing, maybe I'd be better able to grasp the snake basking in sunny mid-40's. But teens at night would have me thinking even the dumbest snakes would be in lockdown.

Posted by Brandon Curtis on Feb 17, 2011 at 07:00 PM

Garter snakes are more cold tolerant than a lot of other sp. found in our region. They are one of the first species to emerge from hibernation, and there have been observations where garter snakes were found basking or surface active on warm sunny days even though there was still snow on the ground. I personally have found it common to find dead garter snakes near hibernation sites this time of year (Feb-Mar). Not sure why so many snakes are found dead, but it may have something to do with emerging too soon while the temperatures are still very cold.