Family: Colubridae, Colubrid Snakes view all from this family
Description 18-40" (45.7-101.6 cm). A slender, streamlined garter snake. 3 bright, well-defined stripes usually contrast sharply with dark back and sides. Side stripe involves 3rd and 4th scale rows. A dark, brownish stripe runs along margin of belly scales. Lip scales and belly unmarked. Tail very long, about a third of snake's total length. Scales strongly keeled, in 19 rows. Anal plate single.
Subspecies Common (T. s. sauritus), reddish-brown back, yellow side stripes, yellow- or green-tinged orange back stripe; s. Indiana, s. and e. Pennsylvania, se. New York, and s. New Hampshire, south to n. side of Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, Florida panhandle and South Carolina.
Blue-striped (T. s. nitae), velvety black or dark brown back, pale blue side stripes; Gulf coast of Florida, Wakulla County to Withlacoochee River.
Peninsula (T. s. sackenii), tan or brown back; light narrow side stripes; lustrous tan back stripe; extreme s. South Carolina, se. Georgia, and peninsular Florida.
Northern (T. s. septentrionalis), velvety black or dark brown back, yellow side stripes, yellow back stripe often masked with brown pigment; s. Ontario, Michigan and s. Maine to c. New Hampshire, c. Pennsylvania, and s. Indiana.
Breeding Mates in spring. Live-bearing. 3-26 young, 7-9" (18-23 cm) long, are born July to August, mature in 2-3 years.
Habitat Wet meadows, marshes, bogs, ponds, weedy lake shoreline, swamps, and shallow, meandering streams.
Range East of the Mississippi River: Michigan, s. Ontario, and s. Maine, south to the Florida Keys and se. Louisiana. Isolated colonies inhabit ne. Wisconsin and c. Nova Scotia.
Discussion Semiaquatic; almost always encountered in low wet places. Likes to bask in bushes. When startled it takes to water. Unlike water snakes, which dive, ribbon snakes glide swiftly across the water's surface. They feed on frogs, salamanders, and small fish.
