in spring a few years ago i spent a good amount of time at the northern tip of the SF garters range trying to photograph a wild specimen to no avail (though i still want to make it back out that way) I had previously written a small generic article on them for a website that is no longer running but i will post the info here as it has some fact and some of my experience in the area
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Generally when you think of an endangered species you think of far away lands,but this is not always the case. There's a small town just south of San Franciso,Ca that is the northern most point of viable populations of a rare and extremeley endagered species- The San Francisco Garter Snake. There have been efforts by state and federal agencies to help protect and preserve the serpents habitats, but i fear this may not be enough.
Although ceratin parts of the area are protected from hiking and recreational use, these parts are spread apart and divided by housing,freeways and commercial properties. The main "reserve" that boasts of its SF garters is the only one that I know of, that allows for recreational use, including dog walking along the trails.This leads to massive amounts of feces left by careless canine owners. Also the largest body of freshwater around this "reserve" is a lake in a golf course that borders it. With that being said, good things are being done however as several ponds have been built that have encouraged the equally endangered red legged frogs to return to the area, an important source of food for SF garters. Additional work has been done to restore the coastal prairies that support popuations of pocket gophers and voles,whos burrows are vital to the snakes habitat.
In the time I spent in the area in spring 2005, i was glad to see numerous rodent tunnels. Tadpoles of Pacific Tree Frogs were abundant in the seasonal ponds and Slender Salamanders were spotted from time to time. So in conclusion good things are happening but more needs to be done to preserve this endangered species.
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and the small bit on zoological institutions efforts
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In 2003 there were no more S.F. Garters in American zoos, but thanks to to dedicated people and groups such as the San Francisco Garter Snake Working Group, the snakes have finally returned to the facilities of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. Five mixed pairs of yearlings arrived in the U.S. from Europe in April 2005. Three of the pairs are the new foundation of the breeding project at the San Diego Zoo. The last two pairs will stay at the San Francisco Zoo for public education. I would personally like to appluad everyone who was apart of this for their efforts.
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