snake den

[snakegal12345]

last february i was walking around Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary and theres a big pile of rocks so of course i was curious and i found 20 Common garter snakes in 5 min. can't wait to go to that spot again this year. I only stayed 5 min cause my mom has a phobia for snakes and my mom didn't want to there all day but none the less best snake find i ever found.

[Vanan]

Wow! Nice find! Where they all the same ssp?

[cmack]

Swan Lake, Victoria BC?

I lived on Bay street for 2 years now am in New Bruswick agian!
Later
Chris

[snakegal12345]

yep im pretty sure the ones i saw all looked the same

[Vanan]

cool! Where they plain brownish or did they have bright colored dorsal stripes?

[snakegal12345]

bright coloured dorsal stripes

[Vanan]

Nice! Probably a T. sirtalis ssp. Either T. s. pickeringii or T. s. fitchi, depending how close to the straits you are.

[Kyle Barker]

We have TONS of northwesterns, i would bet they were them. So many colour variations.

[Vanan]

We have TONS of northwesterns, i would bet they were them. So many colour variations.

Doubt it. They may be colourful but if I'm guessing snakegal12345 right, her idea of bright coloured dorsal stripe probably refers to the T. sirtalis ssp.

BTW, dya have any photos of them T. ordinoides on the island Kyle? Would love to see how variable they are. Mostly find the wanderings more so than the northwesterns. :)

[Kyle Barker]

got tons, i have found pure black, white/red/yellow/orange/blue/greeny-yellow stripes u name it. I find them VERY variable. I find that when there are ordinoides are kicking around colour just doesnt work for iding them very well. I swear those things must be polymorphic! well i dunno.....


http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/509/4642-med.jpg http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/513/464nwgbrs3-med.JPG http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/464nwngrs1-med.JPG http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/464nwgscales1.JPG http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/464nwg1-med.JPG

No only are they all ordinoides, they are all within 20 km of each other (3 parks to be exact). I notice that i find certain colours more often in certain habitats.

I just now realised that about 4/5 of all my pics are of the head/vent/scales...sometimes I right down the picture number and id them when i get them on the computer (leaves more time for wandering around).

[Kyle Barker]

As for wanderings i have only found 2 colours. That browny earthy type with whitish stripes, and black/white. Only have 2 pics of the head but basically the same the whole way down. I could probably count the number of wanderings ive caught on 2 hands....http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/464wander2-med.JPG

Any idea when the next richmond show is? Either last one or the one before i found the NICEST red sided ive ever seen, right amongst all them froggies....

[Vanan]

Wow Kyle! Gotta come herpingon the island one of these days! Amazing variation on the northwesterns! What beauties! That one with the red stripe did get me thinking that snakegal12345's find could have been those!

Not sure when the Richmond show is. Join the WSPCR on yahoogroups. You'll find out. Or just check the website. :)

[lanceinhispance]

where is that spot?

[nguyen_inc]

waw kyle... i like the second piture a lot! where are these snake found? peace out ~john~

[snakegal12345]

big rocky area rite beside the lake in victoria and the garters had yellow side stripes

[Kyle Barker]

ya i bet they are northwesterns. From what i have seen, there is WAY more of the yellow and/or greeny/yellow by water. In my opinion northwesterns (at least here on the island) cant really be id'd very well by colour alone. i have caught a few that looked REALLY close to red sideds, but diff scale count.

Snakegal, when it warms up a bit head over to Mt. Doug and Beaver Lake (by the ponds at the park house thing) there are TONS!!!!!! alligator lizards are fairly common at doug too.

[snakegal12345]

yea i know this summer one trip to Mt. Doug i caught 3 North Western garters an alligator lizard. A good spot for catchin frogs ive found is
Sooke Potholes every time i catch 5 frogs. Not bad for a couple hours at a busy swimming hole

[Vanan]

Pictures people! Kyle, I know you've got more!

[Kyle Barker]

lol, you cant expect me to sort through that mess! all i know is there is 3.6 GB of em.....Procrastination :D Im probably puttin up a picture gallery so i can free up some sapce on the comp....ill let u know if its done :)

Sooke potholes eh, im moving near there this spring ill go take a bo. Know what type of frogs? just a heads up, Mt. Doug crawls with widows...awsome spot if your into them, if your not dont go near the rocks on the ground before that last big climb before the look out.

[snakegal12345]

trees im pretty sure ive seen them in between the root s of the tree frogs that hang out over the water and on the trees usually in the water.

[snakegal12345]

forgot i love widows thx

[Kyle Barker]

may want to check out the observatory then too. widows, garters, aligator lizards...a lot like mount doug but you can go check out the observatory too :)

[snkmn]

nice find. canada has more snakes than california. i would have never guessed it if i had never gone on this forum.