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Project Noah Nature School
Thamnophis sirtalis
"Female garter snakes are able to store the male's sperm for years before fertilization. The young are incubated in the lower abdomen, at about the midpoint of the length of the mother's body. Garter snakes are ovoviviparous meaning they give birth to live young. However, this is different than being truly viviparous, which is seen in mammals. Gestation is two to three months in most species. As few as 3 or as many as 80 snakes are born in a single litter. The young are independent upon birth. On record, the greatest number of garter snakes to be born in a single litter is 98."
With the warming temps of spring comes the return of all my little fish pond creatures, including this mating pair of garter snakes. I have a thriving population of garters in my garden, yesterday alone I counted 4 tucked in the rocks surrounding the pond.
Spotted on May 11, 2012
Submitted on May 12, 2012
3 Comments
As does almost every organism! We share our yard with gray snakes & banded kingsnakes & I always get a thrill when I see one!
Hi Karen. They become accustomed to my presence and will hang out right next to me while I go about weeding. They seem to be very gentle, calm snakes and I don't mind them being in my garden, I just figure they have their place in the scheme of things.
How lovely - you can look forward to even more soon!
And very nice to hear that the snakes are welcome in your yard. Unfortunately many people around here see all snakes,even harmless docile ones like these as problem & will kill them on sight.