Garter snakes are not all created equal

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Toronto's snakes never cease to amaze me. These creatures are living here in Canada, the country reputed to be a country of cold, snow and ice. Yet, in spite of their cold-blooded nature, snakes thrive here. Snakes like peace and quiet, hustle and bustle isn't for them. Yet, in Toronto, they thrive.

Toronto is not the only spot, that's for sure. The red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) and the Narcisse dens in which they congregate in the tens of thousands are world-famous. Toronto isn't quite that spectacular, but it has its moments. Although garter snakes are by far the most abundant in North America, and although they are probably the most studied species, surprisingly little is actually known about them, and most people in Toronto don't even (want to?) know that they are here.

This is a good time to see snakes as they are just coming out of hibernation and most of them are still looking for a partner to mate with, which leads them to be somewhat less secretive than they usually are. Nevertheless, they are not necessarily easy to find. A look at the pictures can show that quite easily.

Because of that, seeing snakes chasing a girl and competing for the privilege of making babies, is always a treat. That is what I set out to see. Sometimes, however, plans don't work out as expected. In this case, they turned out far far better than expected. Look at this picture:

Vote it up! Eastern garter snake-Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis Bart B. Van Bockstaele (All Rights Reserved) A rare orange-yellow eastern garter snake.

When I first saw the snake, it was a bright yellow, shining in the sun. At first, I thought I had found an exotic. Someone's pet, a juvenile tree boa or three python. However, there were several things wrong with that hypothesis, especially on close examination:

Vote it up! Eastern garter snake-Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis Bart B. Van Bockstaele (All Rights Reserved) A rare orange-yellow eastern garter snake.

This was not an exotic snake, but a native snake. That can easily be seen from its head. It is somewhat unusual, in that it is brown, not black. Except for that, this is clearly a garter snake.

It shows that even in the parks of a bustling city like Toronto, there are still surprises to be found. I think that it should incite us to respect these parks and to treasure them. Toronto is one of the greenest, maybe the greenest large city on the planet. It is a privilege for us who live here. We should cherish it.

Note that snakes are not always easy to find. They tend to be quite discrete. A case in point is the first picture in the slide show. Can you find it? It is really there! If you look very very carefully, it's tail can be seen in the centre of the picture. Click on "next" to see one of Toronto's rare black (melanistic) garter snakes, followed by a more classical version. The last picture shows the same snake as the first, but from closerby.