# Snake ID, Please **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 13, 2015, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460 "2015-06-13T20:45:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZomZom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zomzom/32/5620_2.png) [@ZomZom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZomZom)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/1 "2015-06-13T20:45:31Z")
Is this a garter snake? I’ve seen him in my back yard a few times and am just wanting to make sure he’s not something to worry about. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/531/18591531190_a7755757fd_b.jpg "Garter Snake") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/mangoldm/18591531190/in/dateposted-public/) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/2 "2015-06-13T20:48:57Z")
Yup, looks like an Western Gater snake. Harmless. ETA: Mostly Harmless. ---
**Author:** ![ZomZom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zomzom/32/5620_2.png) [@ZomZom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZomZom)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/3 "2015-06-13T21:27:10Z")
Thanks, beowulff! ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/4 "2015-06-13T23:59:58Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Yup, looks like an Western Gater snake. > > Harmless. > > ETA: Mostly Harmless. That should read mostly harmless to humans… if you happen to be a cricket be very, very afraid. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/5 "2015-06-14T01:09:49Z")
When handled they can put a horrible stink on your arms and hands. Just so you know. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/6 "2015-06-14T01:18:25Z")
> [@ZomZom](#): > > [Garter Snake | Michael Mangold | Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/mangoldm/18591531190/in/dateposted-public/) Cool pic! Did you take it yourself, or is it one you found that just looks like your snake? ---
**Author:** ![ZomZom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zomzom/32/5620_2.png) [@ZomZom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZomZom)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/7 "2015-06-14T02:24:03Z")
I took the pic. I had macro extension tubes on the camera and was looking for bugs when I came across him. He’s about 2 feet long and looked very afraid, so I stayed about 2 feet away and focused with the lens at the long end, about 300mm. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/8 "2015-06-14T10:24:19Z")
That shot WOULD be worrying. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/9 "2015-06-14T12:44:40Z")
They are ADORABLE when they strike at you. I tried to back off but it was clear he thought it was intimidate or die and he came at me (bro) about three inches and then just sat there waiting to see what I’d do. I left and he’s all, “That’s right.” ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/10 "2015-06-15T14:35:34Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > They are ADORABLE when they strike at you. By the way, I’ve been bitten by garter snakes a couple of times. They can draw a little blood. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/11 "2015-06-15T14:41:30Z")
This is the best photo I have seen in a species ID thread. Well done! ETA: based on your location of Washington, DC, I would guess it’s an Eastern garter snake. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/12 "2015-06-15T14:57:19Z")
Beautiful shot, beautiful snake. I love garters, but my mom was always convinced they were going to give us salmonella and we’d die in the hospital. Once when I was about 4-5, I caught one (I was a naive and stupid young child) and had it by the middle of the body as I ran back to my mom to show her - it kept biting my hand and arm while I ran towards her, and it maybe broke the skin twice? Maybe? I was so proud of myself that I had stalked and caught that snake all on my own, and then I run up and my mom was so damn horrified. I think she put mecurochrome on my arm for about a week straight. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/13 "2015-06-15T16:17:37Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > By the way, I’ve been bitten by garter snakes a couple of times. They can draw a little blood. My gf doesn’t like them around the house because they eat toads and she likes toads. So every time she sees one she calls me and I catch it while she goes to the garage for a feed-sack. I put it in the bag and she walks a mile or two into the woods and releases it. One time a particularly large one got away from me in the garage. She is mildly snake phobic, and I knew there would be trouble if I didn’t catch it. It went under a work bench and I stuck my hand under and let it bite me so I could grab it with my other hand. Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/14 "2015-06-15T17:27:21Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My gf doesn’t like them around the house because they eat toads and she likes toads. So every time she sees one she calls me and I catch it while she goes to the garage for a feed-sack. I put it in the bag and she walks a mile or two into the woods and releases it. > > One time a particularly large one got away from me in the garage. She is mildly snake phobic, and I knew there would be trouble if I didn’t catch it. It went under a work bench and I stuck my hand under and let it bite me so I could grab it with my other hand. Ouch. That right there is love. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/15 "2015-06-15T17:30:35Z")
A friend of mine calls them “gardener snakes” because she always sees them in her garden. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/16 "2015-06-15T17:35:09Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > ETA: based on your location of Washington, DC, I would guess it’s an Eastern garter snake. So… it’s within the garter belt? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/17 "2015-06-15T17:45:42Z")
It’s recently been discovered that garter snakes do produce venom. > **[Garter snake | Venom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garter_snake#Venom)** > > Garter snakes were long thought to be non-venomous but discoveries in the early 2000s revealed that they in fact produce a neurotoxic venom. Despite this, garter snakes cannot seriously injure or kill humans with the small amounts of comparatively mild venom they produce and they also lack an effective means of delivering it. In a few cases some swelling and bruising have been reported. They do have enlarged teeth in the back of their mouth but their gums are significantly larger and t Evidence s... However, it is only mildly toxic and garter snakes don’t have an effective means of delivering it, so a bite is harmless to people. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-id-please/722460/18 "2015-06-15T18:29:51Z")
BTW, standard advice if you are bitten by a non-venomous snake is that you may want to go to a doctor if you haven’t had a tetanus booster recently.