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I did a three day weekend trip to a State Park in Northwest Ohio. I was on a quest for something I've never seen in the wild before: An all-black Eastern Garter Snake. It only took a few minutes to find my quarry.

Another photo of the same snake:

The following day I found this "standard" looking Eastern Garter, though its dorsal stripe was quite narrow and its reddish-orange eyes were pretty cool.

Another photo of the same snake:

Habitat shot:

The place where I was at has boardwalks and bridges that went over marshy areas. Looking off the side of a bridge, I saw this:

The Northern Water Snake turned out to be the only non-garter snake found on the trip.

There were other herps, though, like Bullfrogs, Green Frogs and Painted Turtles.

I also saw a pretty decent number of Leopard Frogs.

This little garter didn't have the best disposition.

But I liked its spotted pattern.

A second black garter "as found."

Not every snake wants a close-up photo taken of it.

Perhaps the most interesting Garter Snake behavior that was observed was this one spotted off the side of a boardwalk, 4 feet up in a tree.

It was a pretty good time, if you like Garter Snakes (which I do)!

Third Eye

My favorite thing about encountering garters is finding the answer to the question "Will I be bleeding or not when this is all said and done".

Nice pictures, would be rather nice to see an all black one here in Maine.

Gerry

the second little black one appears to be giving you his best black mamba impression! I love it!

Thanks for the pics,
Brian

Great pictures! I didnt know we had all black garters. Is it just a phase of the eastern garter snake? Also, love the pic of the one off the ground. Saw a similar situation with a red-bellied snake a few years ago here in South Carolina.

Justin

>>Perhaps the most interesting Garter Snake behavior that was observed was this one spotted off the side of a boardwalk, 4 feet up in a tree.
>>

I saw two ribbon snakes in a bush/small tree beside a boardwalk at sawgrass park in st petersburg, fla. They were head-high with me, so maybe 6' above the boardwalk, which was 3-4 feet above grade (swamp) putting them up maybe 9-10 feet in the plant.

My most interesting arboreal observation, though, was of a coral snake. One crawled onto the pool deck at a scout camp near Tampa, where my girls were swimming. It caused a great deal of consternation. I cleared people away and watched. It crawled off the pad and to my great surprise began climbing a 3-4 inch diameter oak just beyond the pool deck. It went well above my head, to maybe 8'. And I figured corals were mostly fossorial! The more we think we know, the less we know.

Sweet looking garters!!!

the all black garters are melanistic easterns
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Don
www.donsgartersnakes.net