New additions

[Stefan-A]

I've noticed this in my recent herping as well, no idea why the females seem to get attacked more than males..

They're larger, slower and easier to spot, gravid females have reduced mobility, males seem to be more easily startled... Or it could just be that females are more successful at fending off attacks and surviving injuries.

[Millinex]

I'd go with the second theory. My big female took a pinkie and 5 fuzzies today and is still extremely fast and fiesty. She's much faster in my book than any males I've seen!

[drache]

those are some nice new additions
and I think that females of many animal species come with better survival skills than males, since they have young to protect

[Stefan-A]

The question could be answered if the male:female ratio was known.

edit: anyway, I found this:

Geographic variation in the frequency of scarring and tail stubs in eastern gartersnakes (Thamnophis s. sirtalis) from Michigan, USA
http://www.uttyler.edu/faculty/jplac...finish_000.pdf

As with past studies (Willis et al., 1982;
Fitch, 2003), tail stub frequency tended to be
sex-biased with more females exhibiting such
wounds than males. Why this bias exists is not
known, but it may be the result of more females
surviving tail attacks than males. Male
tails differ from female tails in that reproductive
organs are found there, but it is not known
if damage to these organs can be fatal. That no
gender difference in body scarring was found
may also indicate the possible severity of injuries
to male tails.