Garter Snake


     Hi there, I’m Eric, and this blog thing is new to me but I thought that I would try to do a once or twice a week posting of a blog and see what kind of response I get.  If you read this, please be kind enough to email me at eric@ericspix.com to let me know that this actually fell on somebody’s eyes.  Thanks.
     This is a Northwestern Garter Snake which I found resting in a wild rose bush not too far away from my home.  It was enjoying the sunshine and sitting about 3 feet off the ground at the time.  If you look at it’s eye closely, you can see a reflection of me shooting with my D70 and flash unit. 
     Garter snakes are really common in Canada, although there are many varieties.  I have enjoyed catching them since I was a kid.  They are very versatile in their diets and need for habitat, which is why they seem to thrive so well in so many areas.   Garter snakes eat worms (no kidding), fish, slugs, frogs, and all kinds of other critters, vertebrate and invertebrate alike.  They make good pets if you can keep them in a warm enough area (a heated warm rock is a good idea—it helps them digest their food) and can get them to eat.  My sister found one that was beat up and she nursed it back to health by feeding it the only thing it would eat—Goldfish!
     I took this shot using a D70 with a Tamron 70—300 macro lens and a SB600 Nikon flash.  I was able to get the picture because I was still about 2 feet from it when I shot and the snake was more interested in the sun than in me.  The leaf was a little in the way so I altered it using Photoshop Elements.  I have an 8x10 of this shot at home. I quite like shooting wildlife, its been a passion of mine for about 25 years.

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