California Reptiles & Amphibians

Thamnophis elegans elegans - Mountain Gartersnake

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Range in California: Red

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to the other subspecies

Key to identifying
California gartersnakes

Range maps of
California gartersnakes

Adult, 2,300 ft., Mt. St. Helena, Napa County

Adult, 7,000 ft., Sierra Nevada Mountains, Calaveras County

Neonate, 5,000 ft. Sierra Nevada Mountains, El Dorado County
© John Stephenson

Adult, 7,000 ft., Sierra Nevada Mountains, Calaveras County

Juvenile, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Mariposa County

Adult, Plumas County

Intergrade of T. e. elegans and T. e. vagrans

Found in northern Siskiyou and Modoc counties and in south central Oregon, this intergrade was once considered a unique subspecies: Thamnophis elegans biscutatus - Klamath Gartersnake. More pictures of this snake can be viewed here.

Habitat, mountain pond in coniferous forest, 7,000 ft. Sierra Nevada Mountains, Calaveras County

Habitat, high elevation wet meadow in coniferous forest, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Mariposa County

Habitat, rocky drainage in mixed woodlands, 2,300 ft., Napa County

Description

Nonvenomous

Gartersnakes have toxins in their saliva which can be deadly to their prey and their bite might produce an unpleasant reaction in humans, but they are not considered dangerous to humans.

Size

Thamnophis elegans measures 18 - 43 inches in length (46 - 109 cm).

Appearance

A medium-sized slender snake with a head barely wider than the neck and keeled dorsal scales. Ground color is a dark olive-brown or black with no red markings. 3 well-defined light stripes on the back and sides. The dorsal stripe is yellow, orange, or white. The lateral stripes may be paler. Underside is pale with few markings, and is sometimes darker in the center.

Behavior

Active in daylight. Chiefly terrestrial - not as dependant on water as other gartersnake species, but more likely to be found near water. When frightened, this species will sometimes seek refuge in vegetation or ground cover, but it will also crawl quickly into water and swim away from trouble.

If frightened when picked up, this snake will often strike repeatedly and release cloacal contents.

Diet

This snake eats a wide range of prey (among the widest of any snake species), including amphibians and their larvae, fish, birds, mice, lizards, snakes, worms, leeches, slugs, and snails.

Reproduction

Breeds primarily in spring, with young born live July - Sepember.

Range

Occurs throughout the Sierra Nevada Mountains, through most of the north except for the outer Coast Ranges south at least as far as Mt. St. Helena. There is an isolated population in the San Bernardino mountains and in the Sacramento Valley. Ranges north into Oregon. The species Thamnophis elegans ranges from sea level to 13,100 ft. (3,990 m) in elevation in Colorado. (Stebbins, 2003)

Habitat

Inhabits streamsides, springs, mountain lakes, in grassland, meadows, brush, woodland, and coniferous forest.

Taxonomic Notes

T. e. vagrans intergrades with T. e. elegans in northeast California in Modoc and eastern Siskiyou counties and in south central Oregon (this snake was formerly classified as the subspecies Thamnophis elegans biscutatus - Klamath Gartersnake. Intergrades with T. e. elegans also occur along the southern and southeastern edge of the Sierras.

Three species of Thamnophis elegans are found in California - T. e. vagrans - Wandering Gartersnake, T. e. e.egans - Mountain Gartersnake, and T. e. terrestris - Coast Gartersnake.

Rossman, Ford, and Seigel (1996) emphasize that a detailed study of geographic variation throughout the range of Thamnophis elegans is badly needed.

Bronikowski and Arnold (2001, Copeia 2001:508-513) found several clades within T. elegans that do not always follow the subspecies boundaries.

Hammerson (1999, Amphibians and Reptiles of Colorado. 2nd ed. Univ. of Colorado Press) synonymized T. e. arizonae and T. e. vascotanneri but retained three subspecies, T. e. vagrans, T. e. elegans, and T. e. terrestris.

Conservation Issues (Conservation Status)

Not known to be threatened, but gartersnakes have been negatively impacted by competition with introduced bullfrogs and non-native fish in some areas. High-altitude populations of this snake may decline if populations of high-altitude frogs continue to decline.

Taxonomy
Family	Colubridae	Colubrids
Genus	Thamnophis	North American Gartersnakes
Species	elegans	Western Terrestrial Gartersnake
Subspecies	elegans	Mountain Gartersnake
Original Description
Thamnophis elegans - (Baird and Girard, 1853) - Cat. N. Amer. Rept., Pt. 1, p. 34 from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
Meaning of the Scientific Name
Thamnophis - Greek - thamnos - shrub or bush, and ophis - snake, serpent elegans - Latin - fine or elegant -- "delicately carinated" from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
Alternate Names
None
Other California Gartersnakes
T. a. atratus - Santa Cruz Gartersnake T. a. hydrophilus - Oregon Gartersnake T. a. zaxanthus - Diablo Range Gartersnake T. couchii - Sierra Gartersnake T. gigas - Giant Gartersnake T. e. terrestris - Coast Gartersnake T. e. vagrans - Wandering Gartersnake T. hammondii - Two-striped Gartersnake T. m. marcianus - Marcy's Checkered Gartersnake T. ordinoides - Northwestern Gartersnake T. s. fitchi - Valley Gartersnake T. s. infernalis - California Red-sided Gartersnake T. s. tetrataenia - San Francisco Gartersnake
More Information and References
Natureserve Explorer California Dept. of Fish and Game Rossman, Douglas A., Neil B, Ford, & Richard A. Siegel. The Garter Snakes - Evolution and Ecology. University of Oklahoma press, 1996. Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003. Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Bartlett, R.D. , & Alan Tennant. Snakes of North America - Western Region. Gulf Publishing Co., 2000. Ernst, Carl H., Evelyn M. Ernst, & Robert M. Corker. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003. Wright, Albert Hazen & Anna Allen Wright. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press. Brown, Philip R. A Field Guide to Snakes of California. Gulf Publishing Co., 1997.

Conservation Status
The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game. This snake is not included on the Special Animals List, which indicates that there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California.
Organization	Status Listing
U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)
California Endangered Species Act (CESA)
California Department of Fish and Game
Bureau of Land Management
USDA Forest Service
Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List