Garter Snake Forum - View Single Post

Cazador · 02-13-2007, 02:11 PM

Hi Kitkat,
To me, the head on your snake appears more pointy and triangular. Contrast it to the picture, below, that looks more like a T. ordinoides. Yours also has a VERY thin blue, dorsal stripe. From your photo, it appears to be only 1/2 - 1 scale widths? Both species have thin dorsal stripes, but the books actually mention that Puget Sound garters (T.s. pickeringii) have thin dorsal stripes. I wouldn't be surprised if the snakes in your and my pictures were different, but similar, species. I've been reading up on these, but using the descriptions to distinguish between them is still a bit confusing. The dorsal row scale counts seem to be the most unique characteristic between the two species.

Here's another:

02-13-2007, 02:11 PM	#20 (permalink)
Cazador Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Alaska, USA Posts: 1,611	Re: PUGET Update (Vet Visit & more ;)) Hi Kitkat, To me, the head on your snake appears more pointy and triangular. Contrast it to the picture, below, that looks more like a T. ordinoides. Yours also has a VERY thin blue, dorsal stripe. From your photo, it appears to be only 1/2 - 1 scale widths? Both species have thin dorsal stripes, but the books actually mention that Puget Sound garters (T.s. pickeringii) have thin dorsal stripes. I wouldn't be surprised if the snakes in your and my pictures were different, but similar, species. I've been reading up on these, but using the descriptions to distinguish between them is still a bit confusing. The dorsal row scale counts seem to be the most unique characteristic between the two species. Here's another: