Herpetofauna: One Life's List

Thamnophis radix radix
Eastern Plains Garter Snake

My Back Yard - Champaign, Illinois.
September 1st, 1999

How cool is it to add a species to my Life List simply by walking out my back door?  My yard contains a small population of both Eastern Plains Garter Snakes and Eastern Garter Snakes, which occasionally can be found together in the compost pile or near the old shed.

I see at least three radix on a regular basis.  The one pictured here lives in the front yard, under the plastic splashguard for the rain downspout.