identification needed please

[justinO]

my friend's little sister took this pic at their cottage near kirkland lake, ontario. It was eating a big frog.

my guess was some garter/ribbon snake, but i'm not 100% sure.


any thoughts/ideas?

[Bartman]

Looks like an eastern garter snake...S.sirtalis...possibly..

[Lasher]

I agree. The yellow stipe down the side gives it away.

[justinO]

thanks, as i said, that was my guess, but i just wanted to be sure before i gave my friend the answer.

[Jeff Hathaway]

Actually, ribbons have a yellow stripe down the side as well. The colouration looks generally like a garter, but the main distinguishing features- white dot in front of the eye, and lateral stripe on different scale rows- are not readily distinguishable in the picture. The girth would generally point towards a garter, but the real kicker is the location- I'm fairly sure that ribbons have never been found as far north as Kirkland Lake! You're pretty safe to call it an eastern garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis.

Jeff Hathaway
Sciensational Sssnakes!!