GABTEB SNAKES 



637 



The Garter Snakes are often called Water Snakes in recognition of their 

 association with streams, ponds, and wet meadows, and through most of the 

 Yosemite region they may be looked for confidently in such surroundings. 

 They occur the most widely of all the snakes in the region. Moreover, they 

 are often found in considerable numbers in a single locality; hence, the 

 Garter Snake population, as a whole, is far above that of any of the other 

 snakes, or, perhaps, of all other snakes put together. 



In hand or at close range the Garter Snakes may be readily distin- 

 guished from all other snakes of the Yosemite region by the fact that they 

 possess keels or ridges on the scales of the back, in combination with a 



Fig. 62. (o) Western Yellow-bellied Eacer; Yosemite Valley, June 4, 1915. (b) 

 Giant Garter Snake; Yosemite Valley, May 22, 1919. Both photographed from freshly 

 taken specimens, about % natural size. 



pattern of coloration which never consists of large blotches. The most 

 usual color pattern among the Garter Snakes is a dark upper surface with 

 a light stripe down the middle of the back and another similar stripe low 

 on each side of the body. The Giant Garter Snake is an exception, as it 

 has only a short stripe on the neck region and the rest of its body is flecked 

 with small spots of light color. The California Striped Racer of the foot- 

 hill oaks and chaparral has a long slender body and a dark upper surface 

 with a stripe along each side but not in the middle. This snake looks at 

 first glance somewhat like a garter snake, but all of its scales are smooth 

 and it has no light line down the middle of the back. The rattlesnake 

 and gopher snake both have keeled scales, but the patterns of coloration 

 and bodily form in these species are entirely different from those of the 

 garter snakes. 



