MONSTER garter snakes

[guidofatherof5]

Nice photo.

[joeysgreen]

I read this thread, then realized it was an oldie. Two thoughts; first of course is the ol' fish story. 5' garters eh? The narcisse dens in Manitoba are one of the most studied snake populations on the planet. If you're regularly finding something that isn't matching the documented science, then reconsider your methods. Generally, gartersnakes can be stretched along a measuring tape or ruler.
Second, there is growing evidence that human pressures favor smaller snake size. Larger snakes are more likely to be hit by a car, killed by snake haters, or collected for a pet. The population that I studied this spring had an average size 10-15cm shorter than 15 years ago. Max length was also very much reduced.

[jmonahan]

Agree 100%. I've seen way too many people over-estimate the size of snakes. Seems adrenalin plays an important part here. When someone tells me the size of the "huge" snake they saw, I usually reduce it by 1/3 to 1/2. In 40 years and thousands of garters I've never seen one over 38 inches.

[Stefan-A]

Agree 100%. I've seen way too many people over-estimate the size of snakes. Seems adrenalin plays an important part here. When someone tells me the size of the "huge" snake they saw, I usually reduce it by 1/3 to 1/2. In 40 years and thousands of garters I've never seen one over 38 inches.

People tend to over- and underestimate their size by about as much, in my experience. Maybe it just depends on whether people see them stretched out or coiled up.

[Tommytradix]

i used serpwidgets to measure

[Tommytradix]

20141026_111122-1.jpg20141026_114326-1.jpg

[Tommytradix]

20141011_150949-1.jpg​shes 5 years old

[jmonahan]

There is nothing in the picture for reference!

[Tommytradix]

shes 100% het hybino she origanlly belonged to scott felzer

[Zdravko092368]

*stuff*

I definitely agree with this, when I search the forests near my city the garters are very small on average, however when I go to wildlife reserves with no roads and very few people average size is probably nearly a foot longer.