The checkered garter snake (Thamnophis marcianus ) is a species of garter snake in the subfamily Natricinae of the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to the southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America.
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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NocturnalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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CarnivoreA carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of a...
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MolluscivoreA molluscivore is a carnivorous animal that specializes in feeding on molluscs such as gastropods, bivalves, brachiopods, and cephalopods. Known mo...
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PiscivoresA piscivore is a carnivorous animal that eats primarily fish. Piscivorous is equivalent to the Greek-derived word ichthyophagous. Fish were the die...
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VermivorousVermivore (from Latin vermi, meaning "worm" and vorare, "to devour") is a zoological term for animals that eat worms (including annelids, nematodes...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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PredatorPredators are animals that kill and eat other organisms, their prey. Predators may actively search for or pursue prey or wait for it, often conceal...
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PrecocialPrecocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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PolygynyPolygyny is a mating system in which one male lives and mates with multiple females but each female only mates with a single male.
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Generally solitaryGenerally solitary animals are those animals that spend their time separately but will gather at foraging areas or sleep in the same location or sh...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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HibernatingHibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy charac...
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starts withThe Checkered garter snake is a small generally harmless snake found in the Americas. It is typically greenish in color, with a distinct, black checkerboard pattern down its back. There is a large cream-colored crescent mark on each side of the head and the belly is yellowish.
Checkered garter snakes are native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America. They prefer to live in the desert, savanna, and grassland, usually close to rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, springs, marshes, swamps, and flooded areas. In the southern parts of their range, these snakes can be found in tropical dry and moist forests.
Checkered garter snakes are diurnal terrestrial creatures. They are good swimmers and may spend a long time in the water while searching for prey. When threatened will release a foul-smelling liquid from their cloaca and may also strike and bite if provoked. They will also slither into the water to escape a predator on land. Checkered garter snakes are generally solitary but during the winter they hibernate in groups. They hibernate in abandoned burrows or deep crevices in rocky hillsides. Garter snakes have complex systems of pheromonal communication and are able to find other snakes by following their pheromone-scented trails. They use the vomeronasal organ to communicate via pheromones through the tongue flicking behavior which gathers chemical cues in the environment.
T. marcianus were long thought to be nonvenomous, but recent discoveries have revealed that they do in fact produce a mild neurotoxic venom. T. marcianus cannot kill humans with the small amounts of venom they produce, which is comparatively mild, and they also lack an effective means of delivering it. They do have enlarged teeth in the back of their mouth, but their gums are significantly larger. The Duvernoy's gland of garters are posterior (to the rear) of the snake's eyes. The mild venom is spread into wounds through a chewing action.
Checkered garter snakes are carnivores. They prey on small frogs, toads, small fish, earthworms, small lizards, small rodents such as mice and eggs.
Checkered garter snakes are polygynous which means that one male mates with more than one female. The breeding season usually takes place from late March through early April. After the gestation period of 80-105 days, females give birth to 6-35 live young. Snakelets are independent at birth and don't require parental care. Young males become reproductively mature at the age of 1,5 years while young females start to reproduce when they are 2 years old.
There are no major threats to Checkered garter snakes at present. However, in Mexico and Central America, some populations of this species suffer from habitat loss, the use of pesticides, and the shortage of amphibian prey.
The IUCN Red List and other sources don’t provide the number of the Checkered garter snake total population size. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List.
