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Project Noah Nature School
Spotted on Jul 31, 2013
Submitted on Dec 15, 2013
9 Comments
I was trying to link "Northern" to a scientific name, but the only reference to it was in the eastern part of North America. Do you mean Northwestern? Can you give the scientific name for what you believe it to be? Thanks
Liking those stripes!
Ok we'll thank you
Ok we'll tank u
Ya I'm really not sure on the exact species I figured northern because I was in the northern point of tioga pass Yosemite and they were everywhere I tried to look up the garters on cali herps but tere are two that are to close to the ones I found sorry if it is the incorrect one I labeled I'm not the best with garters another snake ill tell u what it is but garters/waters I'm not familiar with that much had never been to into them
This spotting is like many. We ( PN community) are trying to identify species on the basis of digital photographs, and hopefully known range overlap. However many species just cannot be ID'ed with certainty without physical examination. That is why I am trying to remember to always add a disclaimer comment after my suggestions on spottings where I am not certain, to say I'm not certain. And to advise the spotter to see if the suggestion gets some more support (pluses) before adopting it, or to see if alternative suggestions come in, perhaps stimulated by my suggestion. I was going to suggest on this one mainly due to the preponderance of similary images for the suggested subspecies on California Herps (compared to the opposite on the other subspecies), knowing that range was not exclusive. And I would have added that disclaimer! :-)
That's most likely correct as I can't see red in these images. Both are common in the area. I'm not familiar enough with the color variations to know if T. sirtalis can lack red on the sides. Scott, are there other distinguishing features that are visible in this series?
I was going to suggest Thamnophis elegans elegans when I saw your comment Cindy.
I cannot tell if this is Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi or Thamnophis elegans elegans with these photo's. Take a look at this key: http://www.californiaherps.com/identific...