Garter Snakes: Fascinating Facts About These Common Garden Visitors

• Length: 18-51 inches.
• Stripes: 3 total — one mid-back, two on sides with checkerboard pattern between.
• Teeth: 4 rows of small, backward-pointing teeth to swallow live prey.
• Reproduction: Live birth of ~18 young in late summer/early fall; maturity in 2 years.
• Species: 13, all in family Colubridae.

Did You Know?

• Named for resemblance to old-fashioned garters.
• Eat earthworms, fish, frogs, toads, salamanders, mice, bird eggs — no venom or constriction.
• When threatened, emit musk and/or defecate. May bite but non-venomous; at most a slight rash.

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