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Terrestrial Gartersnake - Thamnophis elegans

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Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: S5
(see State Rank Reason below)


Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:


 

External Links

State Rank Reason (see State Rank above)
Species is relatively common within suitable habitat and widely distributed across portions of the state
  • Details on Status Ranking and Review
    Terrestrial Gartersnake (Thamnophis elegans) Conservation Status Review
    Review Date = 05/03/2018
    Range Extent

    ScoreG - 200,000-2,500,000 km squared (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)

    Comment304,213 square Kilometers from Natural Heritage Program range maps

    Long-term Trend

    ScoreE - Relatively Stable (±25% change)

    CommentHabitat is likely stable within +/- 25% since European settlement, the increasing in stock ponds may have increased the amount of habitat for this species

    Short-term Trend

    ScoreE - Stable. Population, range, area occupied, and/or number or condition of occurrences unchanged or remaining within ±10% fluctuation

    CommentSpecies is regularly found during surveys of lentic sites within its range

    Threats

    ScoreH - Unthreatened. Threats if any, when considered in comparison with natural fluctuation and change, are minimal or very localized, not leading to significant loss or degradation of populations or area even over a few decades’ time. (Severity, scope, and/or immediacy of threat considered Insignificant.)

    CommentNo operational threats in the next 15-20 years identified

    Intrinsic Vulnerability

    ScoreB - Moderately Vulnerable. Species exhibits moderate age of maturity, frequency of reproduction, and/or fecundity such that populations generally tend to recover from decreases in abundance over a period of several years (on the order of 5-20 years or 2-5 generations); or species has moderate dispersal capability such that extirpated populations generally become reestablished through natural recolonization (unaided by humans).

    CommentModerately Vulnerable. Species exhibits moderate age of maturity, frequency of reproduction, and/or fecundity such that populations generally tend to recover from decreases in abundance within 5-20 years or 2-5 generations. Species has good dispersal ca

    Environmental Specificity

    ScoreC - Moderate. Generalist. Broad-scale or diverse (general) habitat(s) or other abiotic and/or biotic factors are used or required by the species but some key requirements are scarce in the generalized range of the species within the area of interest.

    CommentFound across a wide range of habitats

    Raw Conservation Status Score

    Score 3.5 + 0 (geographic distribution) + 0 (environmental specificity) + 0 (short-term trend) + 1 (threats) = 4.5

 
General Description
Adults vary from 16 to 43 inches in length. This snake is distinguished by three yellow stripes (one dorsal, two lateral) running the length of the body and a series of black spots situated between, and somewhat on, the stripes. The background color between the stripes is brownish or greenish. All-black individuals are occasionally found. A series of dark black/brown blotches covers most of the belly. There are normally eight scales on the upper lip.

Species Range
Montana Range Range Descriptions

Native

Western Hemisphere Range

 


Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 3259

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density

Recency

 

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)



Migration
Non-migratory.

Habitat
Terrestrial Gartersnakes are found in nearly all habitats, but most commonly at lower elevations around water. Females give birth to 6 to 18 live young during summer. They eat a variety of vertebrates and invertebrates. Common near water but also found away from water. At high elevations common on rocky cliffs and brushy talus (Brunson and Demaree 1951 and Franz 1971). On prairie may be more common along brushy bottomland (Mosimann and Rabb 1952 and Lewin 1963).

Ecological Systems Associated with this Species
  • Details on Creation and Suggested Uses and Limitations
    How Associations Were Made
    We associated the use and habitat quality (common or occasional) of each of the 82 ecological systems mapped in Montana for vertebrate animal species that regularly breed, overwinter, or migrate through the state by:
    1. Using personal observations and reviewing literature that summarize the breeding, overwintering, or migratory habitat requirements of each species (Dobkin 1992, Hart et al. 1998, Hutto and Young 1999, Maxell 2000, Foresman 2012, Adams 2003, and Werner et al. 2004);
    2. Evaluating structural characteristics and distribution of each ecological system relative to the species' range and habitat requirements;
    3. Examining the observation records for each species in the state-wide point observation database associated with each ecological system;
    4. Calculating the percentage of observations associated with each ecological system relative to the percent of Montana covered by each ecological system to get a measure of "observations versus availability of habitat".
    Species that breed in Montana were only evaluated for breeding habitat use, species that only overwinter in Montana were only evaluated for overwintering habitat use, and species that only migrate through Montana were only evaluated for migratory habitat use.  In general, species were listed as associated with an ecological system if structural characteristics of used habitat documented in the literature were present in the ecological system or large numbers of point observations were associated with the ecological system.  However, species were not listed as associated with an ecological system if there was no support in the literature for use of structural characteristics in an ecological system, even if point observations were associated with that system.  Common versus occasional association with an ecological system was assigned based on the degree to which the structural characteristics of an ecological system matched the preferred structural habitat characteristics for each species as represented in scientific literature.  The percentage of observations associated with each ecological system relative to the percent of Montana covered by each ecological system was also used to guide assignment of common versus occasional association.  If you have any questions or comments on species associations with ecological systems, please contact the Montana Natural Heritage Program's Senior Zoologist.

    Suggested Uses and Limitations
    Species associations with ecological systems should be used to generate potential lists of species that may occupy broader landscapes for the purposes of landscape-level planning.  These potential lists of species should not be used in place of documented occurrences of species (this information can be requested at: mtnhp.org/requests) or systematic surveys for species and evaluations of habitat at a local site level by trained biologists.  Users of this information should be aware that the land cover data used to generate species associations is based on imagery from the late 1990s and early 2000s and was only intended to be used at broader landscape scales.  Land cover mapping accuracy is particularly problematic when the systems occur as small patches or where the land cover types have been altered over the past decade.  Thus, particular caution should be used when using the associations in assessments of smaller areas (e.g., evaluations of public land survey sections).  Finally, although a species may be associated with a particular ecological system within its known geographic range, portions of that ecological system may occur outside of the species' known geographic range.

    Literature Cited
    • Adams, R.A.  2003.  Bats of the Rocky Mountain West; natural history, ecology, and conservation.  Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado.  289 p.
    • Dobkin, D. S.  1992.  Neotropical migrant land birds in the Northern Rockies and Great Plains. USDA Forest Service, Northern Region. Publication No. R1-93-34.  Missoula, MT.
    • Foresman, K.R.  2012.  Mammals of Montana.  Second edition.  Mountain Press Publishing, Missoula, Montana.  429 pp.
    • Hart, M.M., W.A. Williams, P.C. Thornton, K.P. McLaughlin, C.M. Tobalske, B.A. Maxell, D.P. Hendricks, C.R. Peterson, and R.L. Redmond. 1998.  Montana atlas of terrestrial vertebrates.  Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Montana, Missoula, MT.  1302 p.
    • Hutto, R.L. and J.S. Young.  1999.  Habitat relationships of landbirds in the Northern Region, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station RMRS-GTR-32.  72 p.
    • Maxell, B.A.  2000.  Management of Montana's amphibians: a review of factors that may present a risk to population viability and accounts on the identification, distribution, taxonomy, habitat use, natural history, and the status and conservation of individual species.  Report to U.S. Forest Service Region 1.  Missoula, MT: Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana.  161 p.
    • Werner, J.K., B.A. Maxell, P. Hendricks, and D. Flath.  2004.  Amphibians and reptiles of Montana.  Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company. 262 p.

Food Habits
Generalist predator in aquatic and terrestrial habitats (Anderson 1977). May specialize in amphibians during metamorphosis (Kephart and Arnold 1982, Gregory 1984c). Diet in western MT: leech 44%, slug 24%, fish 10%, amphibian 10%, miscellaneous 12% (Anderson 1977).

Reproductive Characteristics
Birth usually occurs in August to September (Colorado) (Hammerson 1982), late July to early August (Pacific Northwest) (Nussbaum et al. 1983).

References
  • Literature Cited AboveLegend:   View Online Publication
    • Anderson, M.E. 1977. Aspects of the ecology of two sympatric species of Thamnophis and heavy metal accumulation with the species. M.S. thesis, University of Montana, Missoula. 147 pp.
    • Brunson, R.B. and H.A. Demaree, Jr. 1951. The herpetology of the Mission Mountains, Montana. Copeia (4):306-308.
    • Franz, R. 1971. Notes on the distribution and ecology of the herpetofauna of northwestern Montana. Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society 7: 1-10.
    • Gregory, P.T. 1984c. Habitat, diet and composition of assemblages of garter snakes (Thamnophis) at eight sites on Vancouver Island (Canada). Canadian Journal of Zoology 62(10): 2013-2022.
    • Hammerson, G.A. 1982. Amphibians and reptiles in Colorado. Colorado Division of Wildlife. Denver, CO. 131 pp.
    • Kephart, D.G. and S.J. Arnold. 1982. Garter snake diets in a fluctuating environment: a seven-year study. Ecology 63(5): 1232-1236.
    • Lewin, V. 1963. The herpetofauna of southeastern Alberta. Can. Field-Nat. 77:203-214.
    • Mosimann, J.E. and G.B. Rabb. 1952. The herpetology of Tiber Reservoir Area, Montana. Copeia(1): 23-27.
    • Nussbaum, R.A., E.D. Brodie, Jr. and R.M. Storm. 1983. Amphibians and reptiles of the Pacific Northwest. University of Idaho Press. Moscow, ID. 332 pp.
  • Additional ReferencesLegend:   View Online Publication
    Do you know of a citation we're missing?
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    • Weisel, G.F. 1952. Animal names, anatomical terms, and some ethnozoology of the Flathead Indians. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 42(11): 345-355.
    • Weitzel, N.H. and H.R. Panik. 1993. Long-term fluctuations of an isolated population of the Pacific chorus frog (Pseudacris regilla) in northwestern Nevada. Great Basin Naturalist 53(4): 379-384.
    • Weldon, P.J. 1982. Responses to ophiophagous snakes by snakes of the genus Thamnophis. Copeia 1982(4): 788-794.
    • Werner, J.K. and J.D. Reichel. 1994. Amphibian and reptile survey of the Kootenai National Forest: 1994. Montana Natural Heritage Program. Helena, MT. 104 p.
    • Werner, J.K. and J.D. Reichel. 1996. Amphibian and reptile monitoring/survey of the Kootenai National Forest: 1995. Montana Natural Heritage Program. Helena, MT. 115 pp.
    • Werner, J.K. and T. Plummer. 1995a. Amphibian and reptile survey of the Flathead Indian Reservation 1993-1994. Salish Kootenai College, Pablo, MT. 55 pp.
    • Werner, J.K. and T. Plummer. 1995b. Amphibian monitoring program on the Flathead Indian Reservation 1995. Salish Kootenai College, Pablo, MT. 46 p.
    • Werner, J.K., B.A. Maxell, P. Hendricks and D.L. Flath. 2004. Amphibians and Reptiles of Montana. Mountain Press Publishing Company: Missoula, MT. 262 pp.
    • Werner, J.K., T. Plummer, and J. Weaslehead. 1998a. Amphibians and reptiles of the Flathead Indian Reservation. Intermountain Journal of Sciences 4(1-2): 33-49.
    • White, M. and J.A. Kolb. 1974. A preliminary study of Thamnophis near Sagehen Creek, California. Copeia 1974(1): 126-136.
    • Wirsing, A.J., J.D. Roth, and D.L. Murray. 2005. Can prey use dietary cues to distinguish predators? A test involving three terrestrial amphibians. Herpetologica 61(2):104-110.
    • Wright, D.L.., K.V. Kardong, and D.L. Bentley. 1979. The functional anatomy of the teeth of the western terrestrial garter snake, Thamnophis elegans. Herpetologica 35(3): 223-228.
    • Yarrow, H.C. 1882. Check list of North American reptilia and batrachia, with catalogue of specimens in the U.S. National Museum. United States National Museum Bulletin 24. 249 p.
    • Yeager, D.C. 1929. Reptiles of Yellowstone Park with notes on the Amphibia. Yellowstone Nature Notes. Yellowstone National Park Library, Mammoth, WY. 12 p.
    • Zisook, R., K. Almond, and B. Sharpe. 1996. Amphibian survey of the Birch Creek drainage, Beaverhead County. Wildland Studies Project. San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA. 9 p.
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Citation for data on this website:
Terrestrial Gartersnake — Thamnophis elegans.  Montana Field Guide.  .  Retrieved on , from