Release day

[Cruciform]

No worries Ryan. They weren't in contact with any, and during feedings I wash my hands with disinfectant soap between each animal.

Beats contamination OR getting bit for food scenting

[Removed_2815]

Again, good job Mike! You should feel good about helping them out...
Cheers,
Ryan

[Fishandsnakelov]

To everyone who jumped on Cruciform's case lighten up. Put yourselves in the snakes position. Would you rather be kept in a secure, warm, rather comfortable location?... or Would you rather be just dumped out in the cold where you would freeze to death in a matter of minutes or hours? Nuff said.


Great act of Kindness award presented to Cruciform !!!!

[Vanan]

Good job Mike! Did you get that awesome queasy feeling your stomach seeing them go. Always happens to me whenever I release something wild. It's like a plus point for Mother Nature. Good job again mate!

[Cruciform]

I was just amazed to see how they basically vanished into the grass only a foot in front of me. By watching very carefully I could see them moving off, but if I hadn't have set them there myself I never would have noticed.

I also scared the bejeezus out of a deer who came down to drink and the crashing and smashing of trees as he fled was quite an adrenaline getter

[sapphire_moon]

lol, glad the snakes were well!

Nothing like a deer crashing into trees...lol

[justinO]

good job mike. Regardless of people's opinions, they have a better chance now then they did last winter.

[JD@reptiles]

Hey, dont get me wrong, you did everything with great intentions, and i might have done the same thing in your case! but the snakes MAY not be able to readapt. thats all i wanted to point out.

Jordan

[KrokadilyanGuy3]

Good to see common sense. Good job, Mike. Get any pics of the animals at all?

[Jeff Hathaway]

Hey Mike,

Undoubtably, you did a good thing, and certainly better than just tossing them outside in the snow. Very glad to hear that you took precautions with respect to pathogens. Risks to the wild populations should always be a much greater concern in these cases than the effects on the one or two individuals.

However, I would also agree that hibernating the snakes would have been preferable. The reality is that we don't know if it will 'throw them off' or not. I personally think that garters are very adaptable and that they should do just fine either way. But, why not err on the safe side and follow their natural schedule? I don't think you needed to be worried about the female. Garters, and many other snakes (including eastern hognoses) have been recorded mating in the fall in the wild, prior to hibernation. Plus, hibernating them would have been less work:-)

I see that I've taught Jordan and Sean well:-) Good to see you guys questioning something like this, though don't be too quick to judge.

Jeff Hathaway
Sciensational Sssnakes!!

[Cruciform]

Heya Jeff,

Yeah, I was probably overly cautious in worrying about her hibernating while pregnant. In the end that mating never took anyway. They didn't mate again until spring when the first fresh earthworms became available.

She's increased in girth, but I still have no idea if she was carrying. It would have been nice to see the babies if she was, but they'll be better off born in their natural setting

And for those asking for pics, I didn't have the camera with me when I released them. There's a couple of pics of them in my gallery though.

Hawk's Cliff looks like it might be a nice place to do some herping, but I've never encountered so many mosquitos in my life. The hot spell this week must have given them a boost because there were so many it actually sounded like machinery. No West Nile symptoms yet though.

[Ontario_herper]

I agree with Jeff in regards to the fact that it is really unknown whether or not the snake would be confused by its lack of dormancy. We can all share our opinions but it IS unknown.

One thing that is a fact is that captive snakes can and do carry all sort of nasty pathogens. Enough precaution cannot be taken when bringing a wild herp into a home with captive reptiles. I hope that you not only washed your hands in between handling but also kept these animals in a seperate area of the house and changed clothes etc.... in between handling.

I am of the firm belief that (once again) enough precaution cannot be taken against disease transmition. I believe this to be especially true when involving wild reptiles.

I'd rather see two garters die than see two garters live and be released back into the wild only to wipe out an entire population.

Just my thoughts.....

[Ontario_herper]

BTW... I'm not attacking you Mike. Just sharing my opinion on bringing wild herps into captivity, on a whole.

[Cruciform]

If only there were better quarantine procedures on import animals.

The spectre of IBD and other pathogens looms over us constantly.

[Ontario_herper]

Sorry, What I meant was wild herps into captivity with the goal of re-release.