Species: Thamnophis elegans

Terrestrial Gartersnake
Species

    Pale (but not white) stripes on sides of body on second and third scale rows above lateral edges of belly scales; middorsal stripe bright and extends length of body in some areas, stripe dull and fades at midbody in other areas; often two large blackish marks on neck; often irregular black marks on belly; usually eight upper labials on each side of head; narrow dark marks (if any) on upper lips confined to front edge of vertical suture between scales; dorsal scales keeled; anal scale usually singl; usually 21 scale rows at midbody. Total length up to 109 cm but in most areas few exceed 76 cm. Source: Hammerson (1999).

    Kingdom
    Animalia
    Phylum
    Craniata
    Class

    Reptilia

    Order

    Squamata

    Family

    Colubridae

    Genus

    Thamnophis

    Classification
    Other Global Common Names
    Terrestrial Garter Snake - Wandering Gartersnake - Western Terrestrial Garter Snake - couleuvre de l'Ouest
    Informal Taxonomy
    Animals, Vertebrates - Reptiles - Snakes
    Formal Taxonomy
    Animalia - Craniata - Reptilia - Squamata - Colubridae - Thamnophis - Cytochrome b phylogeny does not match the current subspecific classification of T. ELEGANS (Bronikowski and Arnold 2001). A range-wide assessment of genetic and morphological variation is needed.

    Pale (but not white) stripes on sides of body on second and third scale rows above lateral edges of belly scales; middorsal stripe bright and extends length of body in some areas, stripe dull and fades at midbody in other areas; often two large blackish marks on neck; often irregular black marks on belly; usually eight upper labials on each side of head; narrow dark marks (if any) on upper lips confined to front edge of vertical suture between scales; dorsal scales keeled; anal scale usually singl; usually 21 scale rows at midbody. Total length up to 109 cm but in most areas few exceed 76 cm. Source: Hammerson (1999).

    Migration
    false - false - false
    Non-migrant
    false
    Locally Migrant
    false
    Food Comments
    Feeds on slugs, worms, snails, leeches, tadpoles, frogs, fish, mice, and occasionally small birds. Also eats insects, and carrion. Some forms capture prey in water, others feed entirely terrestrially (Nussbaum et al. 1983). Depends on amphibians in the high Sierra Nevada, California (Jennings et al. 1992).<br><br>At least in some parts of the range of this snake, the rear upper jaw teeth are relatively long and bladelike and apparently function in impaling, holding, and manipulating the prey. The snakes salivary secretions aid in breaking down prey tissues.
    Reproduction Comments
    Courtship and mating occur primarily in spring, soon after emergence from hibernation, though late summer sexual activity has been observed in some parts of the range. In the mountains, newborn individuals first appear most often in August and early September; at lower elevations births sometimes occurs as early as mid-July. Litter size usually is fewer than 20.
    Length
    107
    NatureServe Global Status Rank
    G5
    Global Status Last Reviewed
    2005-12-16
    Global Status Last Changed
    1996-10-30
    Other Status

    LC - Least concern

    Conservation Status Map
    <img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.AB=S4&CA.BC=S5&CA.SK=S4&US.AZ=S5&US.CA=SNR&US.CO=S5&US.ID=S5&US.MT=S5&US.NN=S5&US.NE=S4&US.NV=S4&US.NM=S5&US.OK=S1&US.OR=S5&US.SD=S4&US.UT=S5&US.WA=S5&US.WY=S5" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
    Global Range
    H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - The range extends from central British Columbia, central Alberta, and southwestern Manitoba south through all of the western United States (east to western South Dakota, western Nebraska, Colorado, extreme western Oklahoma, and New Mexico) to (disjunctly) northern Baja California (Sierra San Pedro Martir), with many isolated populations around the margins of the main range (Fitch 1983, Rossman et al. 1996, Grismer 2002, Stebbins 2003). Elevational range extends from sea level to 11,000 feet (3,355 meters), or higher in some locations (Hammerson 1999, Stebbins 2003).
    Global Range Code
    H
    Global Range Description
    >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
    ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102240