The young are incubated in the lower abdomen, about half way down from the snake's body. Gestation is usually two to three months. Most litters range from 10 to 40 young and litter size depends on the size of the female, with larger females giving birth to larger litters. Upon birth, baby garter snakes are independent and must find food on their own. Common garter snakes typically eat earthworms , amphibians , leeches , slugs , snails , insects , crayfish , small fish and other snakes.
They seem immune to the toxic skin secretions of toads and can eat them without harm. Occasionally small mammals , lizards, or baby birds are eaten as well. Common garter snakes find their prey using their excellent sense of smell and their vision.
They use several different hunting methods, such as peering, craning, and ambushing to capture their prey. The different techniques describe the way the snakes move while they hunt. The Aquatic Garter resides in southwestern Oregon.
Snakes are usually black, dark brown or green with a light-colored or red stripe and can reach inches in length.
You can find Garter snakes in a variety of habitats such as urban lawns, forests, woodlands, fields, and grasslands. Look for Garters near water, such as a wetland, stream, or pond. Water provides a place to hunt amphibians and as a potential escape strategy. Garter snakes hibernate in great numbers. When they emerge, some males will release female pheromones which fool other males into trying to mate with them. Share this: Twitter Facebook Reddit. Did you smell the musk when you caught this one?
Kae Like Like. Follow Following. Living Digitally. In addition to the physical struggle, males may also employ an anoxic kiss to reduce her struggling and increase compliance. The kiss is an exhalation of deoxygenated air that deprives her of the oxygen she needs to keep struggling and in extreme cases can result in death. Both males and females have a cloaca, or slit at the end of the abdomen and beginning of the tail that serves as an exit for intestinal and urinary functions and both entrance and exit for genital functions.
Once penetration is achieved, the male releases sperm and then attempts to insert a mating plug, a gelatinous secretion that essentially glues the sides of her tract together.
The glue only lasts a few days, but it will prevent competing males from adding their sperm. If, however, he is displaced before placing the mating plug, another male will add his sperm. Once the female has mated, she stops emitting her pheromone and within minutes the males disperse.
What are the paternal consequences of the mating ball — one father, several, or many? The female holds fertilized eggs and after the young are developed she releases her live born, which are completely independent offspring. Brood sizes in garter snakes vary from three to around 80, and geneticists have analyzed genotypes of six western garter snake mothers and their broods. Three broods had a single father, two broods had two fathers and one brood had three fathers.
For broods with multiple fathers, interpretation is complicated by the fact that garter snakes can store sperm.
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