I am visiting my family's ranch in Penn Valley California. We are located in the sierra foothills at about 2000 ft and we are located about 5 miles northwest of Grass Valley. I have seen some of the mose beautiful fence lizards I have ever seen. I have also caught two alligator lizards that are mostly green. But the biggest surprise (and a first for me) was catching a Giant Garter Snake. What an awesome snake. Some of the most vivid and clean patterns I have seen. It was about 36" long and was very healthy. This species is threatened and monitored by the state of California. We are either just outside the known range for this species or right on the edge of their range. However the habitat is not even close to what is documented for this snake. They are highly aquatic and are found near water. There is no permanent water for miles. The ranch is an oak forest and grassland. Everything is brown and dried up (as is normal for Cali this time of year). However the streams do flow from November to June. I caught him at 5pm and the temp was 96 degrees.
The ranch is watered regularily and we do have fountains too. We have tree frogs all over the ranch. You can hardly avoid stepping on them at night. So there is food and water here for this snake. He lives under the house and comes out every evening and cruises the bushes for frogs.
So my question is who do I report this finding to? And I am wondering how this aquatic snake ended up here. No doubt in my mind the identification is correct. Just to be certain I will catch him again this weekend and get some good pics. But in the mean time I wanted to report the sighting. I just don't know who to call. This species is in major decline. If anyone knows who I should call please lost it here. Thank you.
