Description: Black or very dark brown with 3 stripes, the vertebral being yellow(ish) and the lateral stripes being pale to bright blue. Interstitial facial stripes present. Belly, blue. Ovoviviparous. Neonates similar to adults. Garter snakes in the eastern USA are less apt to consume nestling mammals than those of the American West. This subspecies preys primarily on frogs, toads, worms and an occasional salamander. Elliptical pupils and a lyres shaped marking on top of the head.

Habitat: Pine woodlands to rocky slopes and slides.

Range: Gulf Coast of FLorida

Found in these States: FL

Diet: Prey includes birds, rodents, and lizards.

Reproduction: nerally, populations include far more males than females, so during mating season, they form "mating balls", in which one or two females are completely swamped by ten or more males. Sometimes a male snake mates with a female before hibernation, and the female stores the sperm internally until spring, when she allows her eggs to be fertilized. If she mates again in the spring, the fall sperm degenerate and the spring sperm fertilize her eggs. The females may give birth ovoviviparously to 12 to 40 young from July through October.

Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its extremely wide distribution, presumed large population, and because populations are unlikely to be declining.

Taxonomy: