Further Study of the Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis, in Northeastern Kansas

Abstract

The red-sided garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis, is a prominent member of the local snake fauna at the Fitch Natural History Reservation and has been a subject of field study over the past 53 years. Although several publications in whole or in part, have been devoted to this species, some aspects of its ecology have remained poorly known; some of these are dealt with in the present paper. Herein, I discuss the range of variation in color and pattern, and compare the frequencies of pattern types in males and females; I also compare the sexes with each other and with immatures in their ecological traits including vagility and their fidelity to specific locations. Comparison of feeding records show major differences in food habits between the sexes and between young and adults. A northern population of this same subspecies in the Interlake Region in Manitoba, Canada, is compared behaviorally with the Kansas population on the basis of recent studies.