Yeah they actually do look different up here. I've known it as long as I've been catching garters but never noticed it until I had heard of this in radix. My favorites are the NY Easterns. I once caught one that was quite literally almost pink! Pink underbelly, pink skin (instead of the blue that most easterns have) and pink scales. NY garters have the most color variation. PA Garters tend to be either blue, or black and yellow. NJ garters tend to be more brown/black. Of course this DOES NOT apply to 100% of the garter snake population in any of these states.