A red-sided garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis). The Nature Conservancy’s Platte River Prairies, Nebraska. Click on this or other photos for a larger, sharper image.
I ran across this beautiful garter snake in our Platte River Prairies yesterday. Interestingly, it was almost exactly a year ago that I photographed a mating ball of red-sided garter snakes just a 1/2 mile from where I found this one. This one may have been looking for love too, but I interrupted it just long enough to get a few photos.
I know snakes evoke strong emotions from many people – and not necessarily in a positive way. It’s too bad, because if you can stand to look at them up close, they are really beautiful creatures. I love to study the patterns of scales, especially on the head. The scales look as if they might have been put together by a master stone mason.
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