Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I have these garter snakes living in my backyard. Most times I have to pick them up and move them when I'm mowing the lawn.

A couple of weeks a go I found a pretty big one inside one of my mose cages. Yup, belly full. I think he ate two adult mice. the others were huddled together on the opposite end of the cage. he was so fat, he couldn't have gotten out. I picked him up and put him back in the garden.

Today, I found him halfway into another mouse cage eying his next meal. This time, I was able to get him out of there before he ate anything.

I had no idea garter snakes would go for adult mice. I almost wanted to watch him eat because i didn't think they were constrictors. I would ahve loved to see how he accomplished this. Anyone out there ever see a garter snake take on an adult mouse? How do they do it?

Maybe I'll post this in the garter snake forum.
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Mike Lockwood
www.tooscaley.com

Wow! He apparently knows where to go to get a feast! Yeah, I thought garters were mostly fish and worm eaters... didn't know they would readily eat a mouse. Would be interesting to find out how he dispatched his meals.
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Aubrey Ross

©
www.SlipstreamSerpents.com

Neat story Mike. I've never seen a garter snake eat an adult mouse, but I'd bet they are similar to indigos in their eating habits. I would guess a garter would do what an indigo does -pounce on the mouse and thrash it around violently, all the while chewing back and forth on it. Anyway, just a guess based on observation of garters and indigos.

Thanks for sharing, always great to hear backyard herping stories!

Thanks,
Ed

Mike,
...Some Eastern Gartersnakes will eat live mice. When I fed them they just grabbed and bit hard and hung on until the mouse stopped struggling.
Jeff

I agree w/Ed! Probably much like an Indigo! I think most people are shocked when they learn, as big a snake as an Indigo is, it is NOT a constrictor!