A prettily marked red sided garter snake in eastern OK.
Although to some degree all of the 12 subspecies of the common garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis, are variable in color and pattern, overall some subspecies are more colorful than others. The red-sided garter snake, T. s. parietalis, of our plains states (and far northward into Canada) are consistently more colorful than some others. But in keeping with the variability of the species, some have bright red bars on the side while on others (especially on old individuals) the red may be seen only on the interstitial skin. Those that Jake and I recently photographed in Kansas ran the gamut of color variations. Old friends to me, this subspecies was a lifer for Jake. All, no matter the color, were welcome.