Giant Garter Snake in the Garage

We've never seen garter snakes get as large as they do here. You may recall a prior year when we had a mama snake living in the flowerbed up by the house (see the story here). She would come out of her hiding spot and sun herself near the front door, and we'd be startled to see her there. She grew to at least 5 feet long and was a good four inches in diameter, if not more. Over the weekend, we spotted a new giant garter snake hiding in our garage. This one is maybe three inches in diameter at its thickest point, and about two-and-a-half to three feet long. But it's early in the growing season yet, so I'm sure she'll get much larger.

Here she is slithering out from the garage.

We also managed to get her on video. Paul happened to be washing the car at the time. When the snake was still inside the garage, he saw her in the corner near the car-washing supplies. I had to go in there to get his supplies (he's squeamish about snakes), and let me tell you, even though I was fairly certain this was just a harmless garter snake (they are not poisonous), I was still quite nervous about getting that close.

Last year, the mama snake had babies, and we saw little garter snakes all over the yard, the garden, and by the front door. Will that happen again this year? I don't mind the snakes because they eat voles and other rodents that will destroy my garden. Plus, they are interesting creatures. I'm thinking about creating a couple of water stations for birds and snakes up near the house...