About 50 miles west of my home, I leave the range of the common Eastern garter snake,
Thamnophis s. sirtalis, and enter the realm of the blue-striped garter snake,
Thamnophis sirtalis similis.
In actuality, garter snakes with blue striping may be found in some numbers throughout the Florida populations. But along the Gulf Coast of the state, from Hernando to Wakulla counties, the vast majority of the garter snakes have blue strips and bluish overtones. And the ribbon snakes are also bluish.
The intensity of the blue striping varies from pale to rich blue, while the interstitial skin and other bluish overtones are a bit lighter.
I have seen these garter snakes by day actively searching pond and ditch edges for the frogs of which their diet largely consists. But overall they seem more active at dusk as the setting sun adds its long red rays to nature's palette.
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