A Brilliant San Francisco Garter Snake | Bay Area Herping
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- Опубліковано 16 жов 2024
- We found one of the prettiest snakes in the US. The San Francisco Garter Snake. This snake is endangered so it was pretty remarkable we were able to stumble upon it. It wasn't our only great find and a Pocket Gopher entertained us above ground for a bit.
And as always, if you want to learn how to identify what you see in the field, check out Schechter Natural History's Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians.
schechterguide...
I know they're a subspecies of the Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis Sirtalis), but I absolutely love these guys.
Yeah, they're definitely the best of the subspecies.
I'm thinking the San Fran garter counts for at least 5 species on your goal to 100. Nice find, what an amazing-looking snake. Cool that it stuck around like that for you.
Definitely an exciting find and my favorite snake of the year so far
@@SchechterGuides yeah, that's top tier right there.
One of my favorite snakes!😮
Totally. Such amazing colors
That has to be up there as one of your best finds. That's a snake I've had on my radar for years but just haven't had the opportunity to search that area of Cali yet. Some day! Nice find Greg!
Yeah, it was a really exciting find. Next time you're out in Cali maybe we can go looking for one.
@@SchechterGuides That would be awesome. We'll let you know when we plan to travel out west. We haven't made any solid plans yet so we're open to anything right now. We'll keep you posted.
That's one SERIOUS garter! Absolutely amazing colouration
Thanks. I was super excited about the find.
I’m surprised the pocket gopher let you film it that closely! So fun to watch.
We found him in the street originally. Was worried a car was going to hit him but glad he was able to bury himself to safety in front of us.
@@SchechterGuides I think snake was getting a little bit pissed and thinking why is does this guy keep following me ... I don't want him to know where my hiding spot will be .
WOW WOW WOW, great footage of the gopher!! Everything wants to eat the poor little things. That was great!!! Never seen that in my life! /TICKS…….😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱
That garter snake is simply beautiful!, cranky snake!!!
Thank you so much. I almost never see gophers out like that during the day. Usually just a head poking out of the ground here or there. We definitely had some good luck that day.
@@SchechterGuides you sure did! It was amazing day then add the garter snake, WOW
Just a great video!!
What an incredible snake. Like I said, I would go to the US just to find that haha. Actually it was pictures of garter snakes that first spiked my interest in snakes as a kid. Really cool
Cool. We definitely have some good ones in California. Hopefully when you visit we can find a few in this spot.
Thats was a dam cool snake
Totally! Thanks
Great finds!!!!
Thank you!
Amazing SF garter much cleaner compared to infernalis.
Marin county infernalis have that same beautiful vibtant blue.
Love these animals!
Totally. These west coast garters are amazing to see. I hope I find a few more this year.
The salt water marsh near the airport has a small population but I've seen them in the Sharp Park watershed. This was ocer 25 years ago so i don't know if they still exist in these areas
Not sure. I've gone looking near the Sharp Park Watershed but haven't had any luck yet
@@SchechterGuides I might still have a 35mm pic of one I took at the old gun range up there. There's a hidden pond up there but again, I don't know if that area has been developed or not
Saw one in the Eureka area in 2017.
You may have seen a California red-sided garter snake. It's also a very vibrant snake. The SF garter snake is isolated from the San Francisco peninsula.
The gopher was pretty fun, I've never spent that sort of time with them. Also - permethrin. Get it, use it!
Just an observation here. While you're avowedly trying to avoid committing a "take" of the garter, simply not touching it might not be sufficient in light of the video evidence provided of pursuit, harassment, etc. Again, just a conjectural observation. Any readers - give the animal more space, don't hound it.
Peace and love, no hate here.
Glad you enjoyed the video. I just saw another Gopher above ground a week ago. It's super fun watching them run around.
That's definitely a fair criticism regarding the snake. Hopefully my other videos set a good example of responsible wildlife viewing and how important conservation is to me.
Not directly relevant, but I will be visiting Oakland this October very briely.. I'm mostly interested in seeing a few lifers especially salamanders around Oakland. Are there any general areas open to the public that have decent habitat to explore?
California Slender Salamanders are all over the place. I'd recommend finding a nice redwood grove to flip logs at or any rocky creek. You're probably a little early to see newts. They generally wait until November to start any road closures for them. But if there's rain definitely go out and look. Ensatinas can also be common and I like to look for them in areas that get lots of fog. The other salamanders are a bit harder to find but you never know when you'll stumble on a giant salamander or something. There are some nice parks near Oakland that have been pretty productive for me in the past but I'm usually there in the spring looking for larval newts.
@@SchechterGuides Thank you for the info. The Arboreal Salamander around Oakland I thought would be my top search species although I didn't know that Giant Salamanders were in the area too. I have seen Slenders and Ensatinas a bit further west, but I will never complain about any salamanders I find (I'm a biology prof, and my passion when I'm out is all about photography) I'll at least make an effort to see Giants and won't be disappointed if I run dry. Cheers and enjoyed the video.
There are Giant Salamanders in the Santa Monica mountains. So you'll have to head across the bridges west. Arboreal has always been a little tricky for me. I haven't been lucky enough to see one in the Oakland area but they should be around.
@@SchechterGuides Thanks!
stunning sf garter.
It was the first one I've ever found and I was shocked at how colorful it was. I'm very curious as to what evolutionary factors lead to such bright colors in a few of the bay area garter species/subspecies.
Where was this?
In the San Francisco Bay Area
@@SchechterGuides Oh I suppose you are not allowed to give specifics. I understand. Sorry!
That little snake wanted a chunk of you😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅 it found something to eat. It was smacking its mouth!!.
Yep. It's some risky business. I need to get back to that area and find a calm one to video.
What's the best area to photograph san Fran garters and btw love the video
Thanks for watching. San Francisco Garters can be difficult to photograph. Since they're protected you won't be able to pose them like you might with other snakes. They're also endangered and can be quite hard to find. I've had the best luck in the coastal ranges of the SF Bay area.