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The eastern garter snake is commonly located in the eastern part of Minnesota. They will often hide their heads and secrete a foul-smelling fluid from a gland near its tail. They are harmless. Photo by Ralph LaPlant

With over 2,500 species of snakes worldwide, the most common snakes in North America are the garter snakes with 12 species located in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. If you were to draw an imaginary line from Rochester to Thief River Falls, in Minnesota, you would have divided the ranges of the two most common garter snakes in the state. The red-sided would be to the west and the eastern to the east.

Garter snakes are named for garter-like pattern on their skin. On appearance, the garter has three stripes that run the length of their body; one on the back and one on each side. Larger garter snakes reach 3 feet in length and 1 inch in diameter.

Garter snakes are harmless. These snakes, when threatened, will hide their heads and often secrete a foul-smelling fluid from a gland at their tail’s base.

Bearing their young alive, 20 garter snakes, on the average, are born to a litter between near the end of June through the end of September. Their diet consists mainly of frogs and toads, fish, salamanders, and earthworms.
Snakes are believed to have evolved from lizards 100 million years ago. They are important as many species prey on rodents and other species that endanger agriculture. Some can injure and kill humans (about 20 of the 115 species of North America’s snakes are poisonous).

Feared by many (mainly by ignorance), the snake has been revered by cultures throughout history. Egyptians worshipped the snake as a symbol of fertility. Greeks and Romans associated specie of snake with medicine and healing. Some American Indian tribes associate the snake with fertility and rain. In the West Indies, the snake is used in voodoo. The word snake is defined, in addition to the reptile, as a “a treacherous person…” Like the wolf, the snake has been given a bad reputation in many situations.

Feared by some, revered by others, the snake is present in most areas of the world with exceptions being the deep seas and areas with perpetual snow.

Most snakes are harmless, but beware! The poisonous Timber Rattlesnake is located in Minnesota. It ranges up to the southeastern part of the state.  


There have been snakes that have lived up to 20 years in captivity.