Cal Red Side Garter Snake Thamnophis sirtalis infernalis
Marin, California. The North Coast Sirtalis Gartersnake, currently California Redside Garter T.s. infernalis. The most colorful snake population in north america considered more vibrant then the SFGS. Their home __pond is now gone drained to allow salt water to flow in killing all pond inhabitants. DNA testing was never checked on north americas most colorful snake to determine if it is a separate ssp.
Adults of this species measure 18 - 55 inches in length (46 - 140 cm),
but the average size is under 36 inches (91 cm).
Appearance
A medium-sized snake with a head barely wider than the neck and keeled
dorsal scales.
Ground color is dark olive to black. The dorsal stripe is wide and
well-defined, and yellowish to bluish in color. Light stripes along
the lower sides are not very distinct, often blending in with the
color of the belly. There are red bars alternating with the ground
color along the sides above the lateral stripes. The head is red or
orangish. The underside is bluish gray, sometimes very blue north of
the Bay Area (shown above) and may have some dark coloring. The eyes
are relatively larged compared with other gartersnake species.
Behavior
Primarily active during daylight. A good swimmer. Often escapes into
water when threatened. When first handled, typical of gartersnakes,
this snake often releases cloacal contents and musk, and strikes. The
species T. sirtalis is capable of activity at lower temperatures than
other species of North American snake.
Diet
Eats a wide variety of prey, including amphibians and their larvae,
fish, birds, and their eggs, small mammals, reptiles, earthworms,
slugs, and leeches. This snake is able to eat adult Pacific newts
(Taricha) which are deadly poisonous to most predators.
Reproduction
Mating occurs in the spring (and possibly the fall ) and young are
born live, spring to fall.
Range
This subspecies is endemic to California, ranging from Humboldt County
south, along the coast ranges (excluding much of the San Francisco
peninsula) because striped patterns were given their own ssp. name and
east of the San Francisco Bay to just below the Monterey Bay where T.
s. fitchi takes over. Continues from where T. s. fitchi drops out in
Santa Barbara county south along the coast to San Diego County.
(Snakes from the Santa Clara River area in Ventura County south, may
prove to be a new species [Stebbins]).
T. sirtalis has the largest distribution of any gartersnake, ranging from the east coast to the west coast and north into Canada, farther north than any other species of snake in North America.
We are following Rossman et al. for the range of T. sirtalis along the
central coast. Stebbins and others show the range of T. s. infernalis
continuing south of Monterey Bay through the coast ranges south of the
Bay Area to San Diego County.
Utilizes a wide variety of habitats - forests, mixed woodlands,
grassland, chaparral, farmlands, often near ponds, marshes, or
streams.
Taxonomic Notes
In 1995, Doug Rossman and Jeff Boundy re-named the Thamnophis sirtalis
found on the San Francisco Peninsula T. s. infernalis, (removing the
name T. s. tetrataenia, but recognizing that the snakes were still
subspecifically distinct), and lumped the coastal T. sirtalis with T.
s. concinnus. This taxonomy is shown on the range map in the 1996
book, The Garter Snakes - Evolution and Ecology 1. In 1998, Sean Barry
and Mark Jennings petitioned the International Commission on
Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) to restore the previous nomenclature 2.
With no opposition from Boundy or Rossman, the ICZN agreed to restore
the name T. s. tetrataenia to snakes on the San Francisco peninsula 3.
Nevertheless, some authors either missed the restoration of this
nomenclature or chose to ignore it, and their work still reflects
Rossman and Boundy's nomenclature.
(Thanks to Sean Barry for this clarification)
The Sorth Coast Gartersnake Thamnophis sirtalis ssp. - Sorth Coast Gartersnake
Southern California Common Garter Snakes have been treated as a unique taxon - Thamnophis sirtalis ssp. - South Coast Gartersnake, but the recognition of this subspecies is rare. The only published description I can find is in the following paper:
Jennings, Mark R. and Marc P. Hayes. Amphibian and Reptile Species of Special Concern in California. California Department of Fish and Game, published November 1, 1994.
The information about this snake that was published in the paper can be found here. (Since the Dept. of Fish and Game occasionally changes the addresses on their website, you may have to search for it if the link above does not work.)
Jennings and Hayes state that this snake is known from scattered localities from the Santa Clara River Valley in Ventura County south to the vicinity of San Pasqual in San Diego County. It is restricted to marsh and upland habitats near permanent water with good strips of riparian vegetation where adequate prey and refuge can be found.
Conservation Issues (Conservation Status)
None for the northern population.
The California Department of Fish and Game lists the South Coast Gartersnake as a California Species of Special Concern. Jennings and Hayes (in the 1994 paper cited above) state that 75 percent of the known historic localities for this snake no longer support snakes due to habitat loss from urbanization and flood control projects, floods, extended droughts, and introduced aquatic predators
Comments and faves
texfstop, cheloderus, rumpelstilzchen II, Nikola Rahme, and 27 other people added this photo to their favorites.
This photo was invited and added to the The Psychedelic Experience group.
texfstop (32 months ago | reply)
Great color for a garter!
cheloderus (32 months ago | reply)
Awsome! Beautiful snake!! Great information.
shadowshador (30 months ago | reply)
Great shot.
Gypsy Flores Photography (30 months ago | reply)
Excellent
I really like your animal photo!
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franck claviere (30 months ago | reply)
superbe serpent tres belle couleur bravo!!!
Conry (29 months ago | reply)
Good photo! I like the llamatives colors and posture of this snake. Regards!
T.I.T.A. (29 months ago | reply)
genial
que colores!!
monkeyflowers (28 months ago | reply)
Kinda cute and pretty.
Griffin Harris (26 months ago | reply)
Awesome, vibrant color and pattern. Great shot!
Sitarshaman (18 months ago | reply)
Its a pleasure to see this !
Adam Hamlin (5 months ago | reply)
Just beautiful!
camfortin (2 months ago | reply)
amazing. are they still around after the pond draining?