There are no known adverse affects of Butler's garter snakes on humans.
Butler's garter snakes are preyed upon by most predators throughout their range, including milk snakes, American crows, hawks, owls, raccoons, skunks, weasels, shrews, foxes, and domestic cats. They escape predation by attempting to escape. If harassed, though, they will exude a foul-smelling substance. If they are suddenly surprised they will thrash their bodies violently from side to side, perhaps to confuse predators and startle them in turn.
Known Predators:
Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic
Butler's garter snakes are small, stout garter snakes with three well-defined yellow or orange stripes that run along the length of their body on a background color of black, brown, or olive. They sometimes have two rows of dark spots running between their central stripe and the two side stripes. Their head is relatively narrow, not much wider than their body, and their scales are keeled (with a ridge along the length of the scale). Their belly color is pale green or yellow with black spots running along the edges. Adults reach a total length of from 38 to 73.7 cm. There are 19 scale rows total and the anal plate is single.
Male snakes are slightly smaller than females, and have slightly longer tails. Young Butler's garter snakes are born at from 12.5 to 18.5 cm.
Other garter snakes have somewhat longer and larger heads than do Butler's garter snakes. Other sympatric garter snake species can be distinguished from Butler's garter snakes by the position of the lateral (side) stripes relative to the dorsal scale rows. One must count the scale rows from the ventral scales to the dorsal scale row and note on which row of scales the stripes occur. In Butler's garter snakes, the stripe is found on the third scale row, and also runs partially onto the upper part of the second row of scales and the lower part of the fourth scale row. In contrast, eastern garter snakes have stripes confined to scale rows 2 and 3. Often, juveniles are more distinctly marked than adults.
Range length: 38 to 73.7 cm.
Average length: 45 cm.
Other Physical Features: heterothermic
Sexual Dimorphism: female larger; sexes shaped differently
The potential lifespan of Butler's garter snakes is unknown. The highest recorded lifespan in captivity is 14 years, average captive lifespans range from 6 to 10 years. Most wild individuals probably do not live as long as this due to predation and environmental stresses
Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 14 (high) years.
Typical lifespan
Status: captivity: 6 to 10 years.
Butler's garter snakes prefer wet meadows and prairies. They are often found near marshy ponds and lake borders. These kinds of habitats sometimes occur in suburban and urban areas and relatively large concentrations of Butler's garter snakes can be found in those areas. Specific habitat preferences may help to reduce competition with their close relatives, eastern garter snakes and northern ribbon snakes.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; scrub forest
Aquatic Biomes: lakes and ponds; rivers and streams
Wetlands: marsh ; swamp
Other Habitat Features: urban ; suburban ; agricultural ; riparian
Butler's garter snakes are found in the southern Great Lakes region and into Indiana and Illinois. There are isolated populations in southern Wisconsin and southern Ontario. Throughout its range, Butler's garter snakes are often found in isolated populations as their preferred habitats are increasingly fragmented by human habitat destruction.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic
Butler's garter snakes eat mostly earthworms. They will also eat leeches, small frogs, and salamanders.
Animal Foods: amphibians; fish; mollusks; terrestrial worms
Primary Diet: carnivore (Vermivore)
Butler's garter snakes help to control populations of earthworms, leeches, and slugs. They also act as important food sources for their predators where they are abundant. They are parasitized by certain species of trematodes.
Butler's garter snakes occupy an important ecological niche within their geographic range. They help control the population of earthworms, leeches, and slugs which often makes them a friend to gardeners.
Positive Impacts: controls pest population
Butler's garter snakes are much less common than their larger relatives, common garter snakes. They are easily disturbed by habitat destruction and other human modifications of their habitats. The wet meadow habitats that they prefer have been largely eliminated and are still being developed at a rapid pace. Large colonies may survive in small pockets of habitat, even in abandoned urban lots, but these colonies can be eliminated in one afternoon when the land is bulldozed. They are listed as endangered in Indiana.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
State of Michigan List: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
All snakes have evolved special ways in which they perceive their environments. Their senses of taste and smell are combined by the use of a special organ, called the Jacobson's organ. This organ is composed of two specialized sensory pits located on the roof of the snakes' mouth. By flicking their tongues in and out rapidly, the snake transfers molecules from the air, as well as from things it may actually touch with its tongue, to the Jacobson's organ. This specialized sense is the way snakes gather and analyze most of the information from their environment.
Snakes are also highly tactile and sensitive to vibrations. Snakes have only an inner ear and they can probably detect low-frequency sounds.
Compared to other snakes, garter snakes have relatively good vision. However, vision is not the primary way that they perceive their environment.
Garter snakes primarily communicate with each other through pheromones, which act to stimulate reproduction. Touch may play a role as well.
Communication Channels: tactile ; chemical
Other Communication Modes: pheromones ; scent marks
Perception Channels: visual ; infrared/heat ; tactile ; acoustic ; vibrations ; chemical
Butler's garter snakes were named after early Indiana naturalist Amos Butler. The scientific name comes from Greek 'thamn', meaning shrub or bush, and 'ophis,' meaning snake.
Butler's garter snakes breed each year as they emerge from winter hibernation sites. Rising air temperatures prompt males to begin courting females. Female Butler's garter snakes are capable of storing sperm from previous matings (perhaps occurring in the fall) and using that sperm in the spring.
Mating System: polygynandrous (promiscuous)
Butler's garter snakes are ovoviviparous. Eggs are fertilized within the female's body and develop and hatch within her.
Butler's garter snakes mate at their hibernation sites in the spring, before they leave for their summer feeding areas. Females give birth in mid to late summer to from 4 to 20 live young. Larger females and those that are better nourished produce more young per litter. The young snakes grow rapidly and may become mature in their second or third spring. They continue to grow throughout their lives.
Breeding interval: Butler's garter snakes breed once yearly.
Breeding season: Butler's garter snakes breed in the spring (March to April).
Range number of offspring: 4 to 20.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 2-3 years.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 2-3 years.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; sexual ; ovoviviparous ; sperm-storing
Average number of offspring: 12.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 730 days.
Female Butler's garter snakes nurture their young inside their bodies until they are born. Once the young are born there is no further parental care.
Parental Investment: no parental involvement; pre-fertilization (Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female)
Butlers Strumpfbandnatter (Thamnophis butleri) gehört mit durchschnittlich 65 cm Länge zu den kleinsten Vertretern der Gattung Strumpfbandnatter (Thamnophis). Ihr Verbreitungsgebiet liegt im Norden der USA.
Die Größe von Butlers Strumpfbandnatter liegt zwischen 50 und 74 cm, wobei die Weibchen deutlich größer werden als die Männchen. Die Grundfärbung variiert von Oliv über Braun bis hin zu Schwarz mit einem gelben Rückenstreifen, häufig sind schwarze Punkte über den Rücken verteilt[1]. Die Seitenstreifen sind orange bis gelb. Die Kopfoberseite ist einheitlich Schwarz. Die Farbe der Iris reicht von Beige bis Braun.
Das Verbreitungsgebiet von Butlers Strumpfbandnatter liegt bei den Großen Seen in den USA. Hier kommt sie im Südwesten Ontarios, im Osten Michigans, im Osten Indianas und im Westen Ohios vor. Im Südosten von Wisconsin sollen einzelne isolierte Populationen existieren[2]. Butlers Strumpfbandnatter besiedelt vor allen Dingen wasserreiche Gebiete wie Sümpfe und Feuchtwiesen oder lebt in der Nähe von Wasserläufen.
Butlers Strumpfbandnatter ist vorwiegend dämmerungsaktiv und versteckt sich tagsüber unter Laub, Gehölzen oder Büschen. Die Hauptnahrung sind kleinere Amphibien, Fische und Regenwürmer[3]. Es wird eine Winterruhe von 4 bis 5 Monaten gehalten, nach deren Abschluss dann zwischen Ende März und Anfang April die Paarung stattfindet[4]. Nach 2 ½ bis 3 Monaten werden die vollständig entwickelten Jungtiere geboren.
Butlers Strumpfbandnatter (Thamnophis butleri) gehört mit durchschnittlich 65 cm Länge zu den kleinsten Vertretern der Gattung Strumpfbandnatter (Thamnophis). Ihr Verbreitungsgebiet liegt im Norden der USA.
Butler's garter snake (Thamnophis butleri) is a species of garter snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to North America.[1]
The specific name butleri is in honor of ornithologist Amos Butler (1860-1937) of Brookville, Indiana.[2][3]
T. butleri is found in northwestern Ohio, northeastern Indiana, the eastern portion of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and the adjacent extreme southern tip of Ontario, Canada. Also, a disjunct population is found in southeastern Wisconsin.[4]
T. butleri is a small, slender snake, averaging 38–51 cm (15–20 in) in total length (including tail), with three yellow to orange stripes along the length of its body. The background color can range from olive-brown to black, and it may also be possible to discern two rows of dark spots between the side and back stripes. These features do little to distinguish it from most other garter snakes species, but the placement of the lateral, or side, stripes is unique to this species. In Butler's garter snake the lateral stripes are centered on the third scale row up from the ventral scales, and they also overlap the adjacent second and fourth scale rows. This contrasts with the lateral stripe placement of other garter snake species.
For those hoping to avoid getting close enough to inspect the position of the lateral stripe, other features may help in their identification. The head is unusually small for a garter snake, and, when excited, the effort this snake expends to escape seems to go more towards thrashing in place than to getting away.
Butler's garter snake inhabits moist, grassy, open canopy areas, such as meadows, wet prairies, marshes, savannas, and grasslands. Like Kirtland's snake, it may also be found in grassy vacant lots in suburban and residential areas. The species can often be found under rocks, logs, trash, and boards. It subsists on a diet of mainly earthworms, but it may also eat leeches, salamanders, and frogs. The species hibernates communally, often with other garter snake species. Butler's garter snake is a relatively short-lived species, and it reaches sexual maturity in its second spring.
T. butleri is ovoviviparous. Mating takes place in late March and early April. The young are born in June or July, in broods of four to 14.[5] The newborns are 13–18 cm (5.1–7.1 in) long.[4]
In Indiana, Butler's garter snake is listed as an endangered species.[6] In Ontario, the species is also listed as endangered.[7]
Butler's garter snake (Thamnophis butleri) is a species of garter snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to North America.
Thamnophis butleri Thamnophis generoko animalia da. Narrastien barruko Natricidae familian sailkatuta dago.
Thamnophis butleri Thamnophis generoko animalia da. Narrastien barruko Natricidae familian sailkatuta dago.
Thamnophis butleri est une espèce de serpents de la famille des Natricidae[1].
Cette espèce se rencontre[1],[2] :
Cette espèce est ovovivipare[1].
Cette espèce est nommée en l'honneur d'Amos William Butler (1860–1937)[3].
Thamnophis butleri est une espèce de serpents de la famille des Natricidae.
Thamnophis butleri là một loài rắn trong họ Rắn nước. Loài này được Cope mô tả khoa học đầu tiên năm 1889.[1]
Bài viết liên quan họ Rắn nước này vẫn còn sơ khai. Bạn có thể giúp Wikipedia bằng cách mở rộng nội dung để bài được hoàn chỉnh hơn. Thamnophis butleri là một loài rắn trong họ Rắn nước. Loài này được Cope mô tả khoa học đầu tiên năm 1889.
