Common names: Blackneck garter snake, Black-neck garter snake

Thamnophis cyrtopsis, the Blackneck garter snake, is a non-venomous species of Garter snake of the genus Thamnophis, mainly found near water in mountainous or hilly areas of the Southwestern United States and Mexico.

Description

There are two known species of the blackneck garter snake: Thamnophis cyrtopsis cyrtopsis and Thamnophis cyrtopsis ocellatus.

Western blackneck garter snake

Thamnophis cyrtopsis cyrtopsis

The western blackneck garter snake is on average 42 inches long. The snake is colored dark olive with an orange-yellow stripe that is displayed on the middle of the body from the top while the underside is usually a cream or light shade of gray. The Western Blackneck is a Water snake

Water snake

Different snakes are called water snakes. Most are colubrids. "Water snake" is also sometimes used as a descriptive term for any snakes that spend a significant time in or near fresh water, such as any species belonging to the family Acrochordidae...

that lives near rivers, swims, and eats small fish and tadpoles.

Eastern blackneck garter snake

Thamnophis cyrtopsis ocellatus

The Eastern blackneck garter snake is smaller than the Western blackneck garter snake, with an average length of less than 20 inches. It is frequently found on dry land near a water source rather than in water. It displays three light stripes on a dark-colored body with uniform orange and orange-yellow spreading throughout.

Behavior

It is active during the day and during twilight activities, and occasionally at night, hibernating from late fall to winter and mating in late spring or summer.

Feeding

Hunts in rivers for small fish, amnphibians, other snakes, and invertebrates, such as earthworms.