Thamnophis radix

Though not the first snakes I've seen this year, they were the first I found while looking for them.  Again I visit one of the very few local spots I know of that contain numerous snakes of at least two species.  It's strange to think that seeing these animals really makes my day; most people think I'm nuts, but the fact that these animals can thrive in small pockets of habitat within heavily developed areas of the city is amazing.

The plains garter, Thamnophis radix, is usually more docile than their common counterpart, the Eastern garter (Thamnophis sirtalis).  Today, I ran into one that was very defensive and it bit repeatedly.  Fortunately, it was just a young one, no blood drawn.

A bigger one.

As always, I found some brown snakes (Storeria dekayi) as well.

This one looks to be hypomelanistic.

Some scenes in and around the snakes' habitat.