This is a young adult of the brown-checkered phase of the Eastern Garter Snake.
It was perhaps a year, or possibly 2 years, ago that Jake and I began to notice that in North Central Florida we were no longer seeing garter snakes. This was strange because in one form or another, one color or another, one subspecies or another, garter snakes were one snake that we had always counted on seeing.

We looked most for the Eastern Garter Snake, T. s. sirtalis, and often on a normal drive we’d see a couple. Today (midJune 2021) we feel lucky if we see one at all.

Dr. Sam Sweet, who is conducting rat snake studies along FL’s “Nature Coast”, has told me that the Blue Striped Garter Snake, T. sirtalis similis, remains relatively common in his study area.

On the other hand Jake and I (or I alone) have seen only a single Eastern Garter Snake in the last year. The actuality of this paucity was brought home to me when earlier this year I started a serious search for a specific color phase in ncFL. This is a brown, checkered, phase. I had photographed this color phase about 5 years ago when we saw one on almost every trip but wished now to take new photos. But now, after couple of thousand miles of driving and poking about, I have seen only one and it was a DOR example. Is the reduction in sightings real or contrived?

Seems the only solution is to keep looking, racking up the mileage, and hoping to see a garter snake population resurgence. In the meantime here are a few old pix.

During breeding or territorial disputes the throat of the male blushes to a brighter orange.
No, this attractive lizardis not extinct. But it has been about 35 years since this species has made an appearance in the American pet trade. But I still get inquiries regarding the lizard even though many of the askers are not old enough to have ever seen it.

As indicated by its common name, this 15 to 18-inch long (including the lengthy tail) is endemic to the lowlands of the Chilean Pacific coastal regions.

Of the family Teiidae, Callopistes maculatus is apparently of ancient lineage and is considered a forerunner of the tegus and other teiids. Dorsally it is multicolored, being bedecked in 4 rows of white-edged black spots on a brown back. Laterally there is a row of more poorly defined black-edged white spots. The gular region of males is orange and is brightest during courtship and aggressive interludes.

Food items include insects, other arthropods, small mammals such as nestling mice and rats, and carrion.

This is an oviparous species but little seems known about the breeding and hatching sequences.

And now to the pix of this pretty lizard.

This is the "Christmas Tree" Eyelashed Palm Pit Viper so favored by hobbyists.
Last week we discussed one of the more rarely seen of the Palm Pit Vipers, the Yellow-blotched, B. aurifer. This week let’s take a brief foray into the world of what is probably the best known and most variable member of the genus, the 2 to 3-foot long Eyelashed Palm Pit Viper, Bothriechis schlegelii. This is a slender snake with a strongly prehensile tail. The supraorbital “eyelashes” are legend. Despite being venomous, the variability of color and patterns and the fact that this snake is hardy attracts many hobbyists to this lowland Central American and northern South American pit viper.

Color? You name it. This snake can vary from the dullest of grays, with or without darker patterning, to the brightest of sunshine yellow, again with or without patterning. The gold-phase is often referred to as the “Orapel,” Spanish meaning gold and glittery. Then there are the greens, gray-greens, dull greens, or a hobbyist favorite, the “Christmas tree phase, this latter being a bright green with reddish patterning. The tiger phase, a golden snake with broad green banding is also a favorite.

This is a humidity loving snake that in its forested habitat may often be found at about face-level along bush and tree-shrouded watercourses. There it quietly waits for prey that includes small arboreal rodents, treefrogs, lizards and birds.

Along with the already mentioned attributes, hobbyists are now taking pride in designing enclosures for this quiet snake as rainforest replicas with living plants, perches, and occasionally with mini-waterfalls. Humidity is good, wetness is not.
I’ll close here by saying that although this is often a “laid back” and quiet species, as with any venomous snake, extreme care should be used when maintenance and or handling becomes necessary.

Yellow-blotched Palm Pit Vipers remain comparatively uncommon in collections.
This montane, arboreal, venomous beauty, ranges from the state of Chiapas, Mexico to northern Guatemala. Like is congenerics, it is small (to about 30 inches) and slender in build. The tail is strongly prehensile. As with most snakes, both the common and the scientific name may be misleading. Although most examples are leaf-green with prominent black edging around the yellowish dorsal blotches and black facial markings, and some have black-edged green blotches that are nearly the same as the body in color. Others may be uniform green, lacking both dorsal and facial black patterning. Black, variably distinct, irregular vertebral striping may connect the dorsal blotches. If present this marking is often most discernable anteriorly. The belly of adults is usually marginally lighter than the dorsum and neonates are a pale green with the expected dark markings. Captives readily accept mice and it is expected that in the wild the diet may include small rodents, mouse opossums, and, for neonate vipers treefrogs and lizards.

The Yellow-blotched Palm Pit Viper, Bothriechis aurifer, considered by biologists to be a “vulnerable species,” is not frequently imported and is currently uncommon in both zoo and private collections.

Seemingly little is known, or at least has been published about the venom of this pit viper. I’ll close here by saying that as with any venomous snake, extreme care should be used when handling.