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San Francisco Garter Snake

San Francisco Garter Snake
Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia

Photo © Sue Gardner

Home >> Species >> San Francisco Garter Snake

San Francisco Garter Snake
Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia

The San Francisco Garter Snake has been called North America’s most beautiful serpent.  A fantastically colored species that does justice to its moniker, it is identified by its reddish-orange head with red, black, and blue racing stripes on its sides and back. 

Unfortunately this harmless and gorgeous critter isn’t easily seen, in part because it is on the brink of extinction.  Pond RestorationRestricted primarily to San Mateo County, the species’ preferred habitats—wet and marshy habitats with access to upland areas—have been hit hard by agricultural, residential, commercial, and even recreational development.  There may be only one to two thousand individuals remaining in the wild today.

The San Francisco Garter Snake was protected by federal law as early as 1967, and was listed an endangered species under the Federal Endangered Species Act when the Act was passed in 1973.  Since that time great effort has gone into conserving the species, including the creation of a recovery plan and controlling developments to ensure that the species’ habitats aren’t adversely modified.  However, many obstacles still remain to the species survival.  Indeed, it is even starting to lose its favored prey: the California Red-Legged Frog is itself threatened with extinction by development and other threats.

The San Francisco Garter Snake, along with the California red-legged frog, can be seen within the GGNRA at Mori Point in Pacifica, CA.  If you are lucky, you might see the snake basking on a stream-bank or poolside, or perhaps even in the uplands. 

Keep in mind that the more-common Coast Gartersnake (Thamnophis elegans terrestris) can sometimes look similar to the San Francisco Gartersnake. The Coast Gartersnake has a brown head, whereas the San Francisco Garter Snake has an orange or red head, and will not have any spotting on its blue/green belly.

Conservation Action Item

The San Francisco Garter Snake is in dire need of good habitat. You can help restore the species' habitats by working with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy to restore habitats at Mori Point.

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Previous Comments

Posted by: madge | 2008-05-16 01:06:23

It helps to note that the more-common Coast Gartersnake (Thamnophis elegans terrestris) can sometimes look similar to the S.F. Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia). According to Sheila Larsen of USF&W, the Common has a brown head, whereas the S.F. has an orange or red head, and will not have any spotting on its blue/green belly.

 

Posted by: herplvr | 2008-06-26 13:42:28

One thing you can do is while you are at Mori Point think about what having sharp park golf course adjacent to Mori means to the snake. I mean, have you seen the lawn mowers they operate by that area? They must be grinding up snakes there pretty bad. That golf course should be restored to a nature area.

 

Posted by: Miriam Schalit | 2008-07-25 13:12:39

I attended the San Bruno City Council Meeting July 22, 2008. A Report was given on SFO\'s SF Garter Snake Recovery Action Plan in the West of Bayshore Area. What I gleaned from this report is that the lives of the SF Garter Snake are directly linked to the amounts of frogs (food for the snakes) and insect life (food for the frogs) the is in the area. But let\'s take a step back. The state of California plans to spray the entire state for the Light Brown Apple moth. If this spray kills more than just this moth, it will be in direct violation to the Federal efforts in keeping the SF Garter Snake alive! Does anyone think that the left hand knows that the right hand exists? Are there any lawyers out there who want to take on Arnie and the State of Culiforrnia? He sent me a very polite, yet patronizing letter in response to my insistence that he ban the spraying. It made me wonder how Farming Lobbying plays into all of this. I doubt a Big Business Farmer in the Central Valley cares what happens to the SF Garter snake.

 

Posted by: A.M. | 2008-07-27 22:39:48

Well, this beautiful snake is certainly not restricted to San Mateo County, since I am in Sonoma County, near Santa Rosa, and found one literally in my back yard the other day. (It was definitely the San Francisco variety, with the red head.) Gorgeous creature! Now I'm trying to find out what I can do to make it as happy as possible in my back yard.

 

Posted by: cool find? | 2008-07-28 00:06:14

To A.M.: If you have photos of the snake you found, you should share them with some biologists, maybe even the big year folks. A San Francisco Garter Snake in Sonoma County would be quite a find. However, it is more likely a different subspecies. They can look similar. Have you keyed it out using Stebbins guide or some other reptile guide to the West?

 

Posted by: nogolf | 2008-10-06 20:28:04

It would be great to restore the golf course next to Mori Point. Check out this website for more information: www.restoresharppark.org