are garters poisonous ??

[chris-uk]

Never had any issues w/ garter or Nerodia bites. The saliva is supposed to contain toxic properties. Venom research has a long way to go. Only recently did they figure out that Komodo dragon and other monitors have a toxic saliva and not simply a bacteria infested mouth as the belief was for eons. An interesting topic for sure.

There was a very good documentary shown over here (I think it was a David Attenborough one) which showed how Komodo dragons would work together around a water hole with some of them distracting a water buffalo and one of them finally getting a superficial bite on its leg. Then they stalked the buffalo for weeks until it was weak enough to subdue.

Not that garters venom is in the same league, or they hunt in packs.

I have quite a lot of allergies, so far I've just had a quick bite (no chewing) but had no reaction at all. I'll wait for a proper bite before deciding I don't react to them.

[d_virginiana]

I'm pretty sure I react badly to garter bites..
I've never had one of my garters bite hard enough to draw blood, but Houdini bit me on the pad of my thumb when he was going blind. He let go the second he realized it wasn't a worm, so the skin was just roughed up a little, but it still itched for a day or two. Once I got nicked by a water snake (barely half a centimeter scratch) and it bled all over my hand, and the area got swollen and itched for a day or two.

There was a very good documentary shown over here (I think it was a David Attenborough one)

David Attenborough is the MAN.