Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My mother saw a small snake while hiking last week and was wondering what it was. I don't have the best description of it, but I was hoping you could give me a couple possible IDs based on our location...?

We live in Trabuco Canyon, located in Southern California. It was seen in an oak forest canyon next to a creek. It was about a foot long, very slender, the color was slate brown, and it was adept at moving in the water. She says that they surprised it next to a small waterfall in the creek, and it dove over the waterfall and into the pond below and swam to safety.

Any ideas?
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0.1 Amel corn snake - Geislandi
1.0 Okeetee corn snake - Valis
0.1 Snow corn snake - Orlando
1.0 Crested gecko - Lampkin
1.0 Golden gecko - Nosferatu
0.0.1 House gecko - Gigan
0.0.2 Chinese tree dragons - Trapezoid & Trapezium
1.1 cats - Moony and Lucky
7.0 betta fish

I'd really like to help here, but it's virtually impossible to even begin to ID a small, slender, grayish brown snake, there are just too many possibilities, also, ALL snake's are quite capable swimmers as well.

best regards, ~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Brown and escaping to water makes me think some kind of garter, particularly the Two-Striped Gartersnake. There are a few other possibilities, though, so you may want to take a look around the California Herps site and see if you can find something that matches.
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- Natalie
(San Francisco Bay Area)

1.0 Banded California King
1.0 Mexican Black King
1.0 Goini Kingsnake
1.0 Bay of LA Rosy Boa
0.1 San Ignacio Rosy Boa
0.1 Ortiz Rosy Boa
2.3 Kenyan Sand Boas
0.1 Saharan Sand Boa
1.2 Rubber Boas
0.1 Pickering's Gartersnake

I agree. An ugly brown snake diving into the water in SoCal is most likely a Two-striped Garter.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

I showed some photos to my mother, and she thinks it was a two-striped garter. Thanks everyone!
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0.1 Amel corn snake - Geislandi
1.0 Okeetee corn snake - Valis
0.1 Snow corn snake - Orlando
1.0 Crested gecko - Lampkin
1.0 Golden gecko - Nosferatu
0.0.1 House gecko - Gigan
0.0.2 Chinese tree dragons - Trapezoid & Trapezium
1.1 cats - Moony and Lucky
7.0 betta fish