Garter snakes (see photo) apparently do well on properties that border Mud Bay as I see a lot of them. But that’s not because I go out searching for snakes. Tide, aka the Mud Cat, is a snake hunter and brings home a freshly caught live snake at least once a month just like her male predecessor Pi used to do. Mission over, it’s up to me to deal with her prey.
Unlike most reptiles, garter snakes thrive in Western Washington. They can tolerate our region’s generally lower temperatures and moist environment and are known to feed on just about everything, including small birds and fish. Those must be the larger snakes. The biggest food sources for the Mud Cat’s victims are probably insects and earthworms as her catches range in size from roughly 6 to 15 inches long.
Garter snakes are nonvenomous. They are also easy for cats to catch and transport. Perhaps their main defense is that they aren’t very tasty. Most of the time Tide abandons them in the garage, although she has presented me with a few snakes in the kitchen and bedroom. After that, she quickly loses interest. The thrill must be in hunting them and bringing home a live trophy.
I have dealt with dozens of garter snakes using a tested technique. I don a garden glove, grab the snake, which most of the time conveniently curls up into a defensive spiral as soon as you touch it, and toss it back out into the wild for a second chance on life. For the rare active snakes that try to slither off, I trap them first using a small upside-down trash can and then give them the heave-ho.
So far, no garter snakes have gotten loose for long in the house or garage. At least I don’t think so. That’s the main issue. I don’t want a snake to crawl under the carpet and die there.
Recently a lady who lives on Harstine Island wrote a great post on NextDoor about garter snakes. She caught a handsome pair, she said, and they were free to a good home. Otherwise, she was going to take them to the train station. I don’t know why she would do that, but the idea made me smile. Then she changed her mind and promised to release them in a safe place across the road.
Numerous people commented, mostly about how they see garter snakes all the time and the good they do (like eating garden slugs). Yuck. One person said that their cat brings them into the house. So I’m not alone on that.
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