Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am thinking about buying a large amount of eastern garter snakes native to my area to stock my property. We built a pond a few years ago and have lots of frogs for them and mice in our shed. I have only like 4 acres but have some nice fields that aren't part of my property across this seldomly traveld road. On my property I have a pond with rocks, pine forest, oak forest and a large yard. Will this be a wast of money? If I get them should they be in captivity to get healty for a while? Give me your opinion. Thanks
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James

I am sure your property is already crawling with garters. You might try improving the habitat like I did but it sounds pretty good already. Plus the government has made it illegal to stock any wild animal anywhere. Although they tax you and me in order to pay for the government sanctioned stocking programs.

You know like they dump trout in every stream. In fact gov't stocking programs are part of the reason for the decline in amphibian populations in some areas. The government put predatory fish in what were fishless lakes. They are stocking yellowstone with wolves at this very moment.

Also if you tried to stock adult garters they may not adapt well to the new environment. My understanding is that they learn where good spots to brumate are and may not make it through the winter if they don't know an area. This may be an old wives tale though since I don't know of any actual studies.

I think the issue of disease is fairly overblown. That seems to me to be a fairly easy thing to control for. I think the main problem is introduction of exotics. The funny thing is that the government has made it illegal to own natives in many places so they have increased the trade in exotics. The rule of the unintended consequence.

You make a good point. I couldn't agree with you more. I see a couple garters a year on my property but they aren't that plentiful. People used to drop off cats they didn't want in my area and after that it seems that there are fewer snakes. I think the cats might have eaten a lot of snakes. We had lots of cats and ended taking in the majority. These days they don't drop off cats as much thankfully. After 14 years, the last of our wild cats died. Now that the cats are gone I thought I could try it. I guess I'll have to think about it more. It's my property. The government ticks me off. I was going to try to be real careful with bringing the snakes in, for the environments sake. Thank you
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James

Of course they're stocking Yellowstone with wolves! The wolves were there long before people. There used to be wolves and Wapiti elk in Pennsylvania, but both are now extinct from the state. We had to import western elk to get a new herd going. I think its great that the wolves are being reintroduced to their native habitat.

One more thing. Eastern garters are probably not going to go after mice. You might attract other snakes though. Also cats are murder on herptile populations. There is a park near me with italian wall lizards. Used to be alot. A new caretaker moved in along with a bunch of cats. Population decimated.

I bet it was those cats! My sisters thought they were cute!Thanks
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James

...snakes than you think. Try placing numerous boards on the ground at strategic locations. After a few weeks, start checking under them. That's what I did. I have a pond, 3 acres,woods, stream. I saw only a few snakes a year. Once I started keeping cb snakes, I laid down "hides" for my outdoor ones. Now I can see a snake almost every time I go outside during the spring and summer. Try it and let us know. Duffy

I'm going to try that. Maybe put a couple piles on the side of my yard. Last time I saw a sanke on my property was last summer. I had this pet toad that was wild in the garden. Every day I would turn over the log and he would be there. One day, I couldn't see toady. But instead I saw a giant eastern garter with a huge lump in his belly! This guy was old. He had part of his tail missing and was like 2 inches fat! - It might have been the toad though. Needless to say I was more happy to see the snake. I left the snake alone and he dissapeared. Never saw him again but he might be around. Thanks for the advice.
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James

That's where I put most of mine. Actually, I have to go out there and move a few of them, or put more down, because after a year or so, ants move in beneath some of them, and the snakes don't find it as cozy. The trick is, placing them in good herping spots without making your yard look trashy. Lucky for me that my wife is very tolerant of my many hobbies, and does not begrudge me a few well-placed boards. Good luck with it.
Do let us know what you find. I bet in just a few weeks you will be seeing some local residents that you did not know you had. It's great having snakes both inside and out! Duffy