
Garter Snakes
Thamnophis
Garter snake, garden snake, gardener snake, and ribbon snake are some of the common names for the nearly harmless, small to medium-sized snakes belonging to the genus Thamnophis. Endemic to North America, species in the genus Thamnophis can be found from the Subarctic plains of Canada to Central America. The common garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis, is the state reptile of Massachusetts.
36 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 36 known species
Common Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis sirtalis

Western Terrestrial Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis elegans

Western Ribbon Snake
speciesThamnophis proximus

Northwestern Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis ordinoides

Common Ribbon Snake
speciesThamnophis saurita

Plains Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis radix

Checkered Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis marcianus

Black-necked Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis cyrtopsis

Aquatic Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis atratus

Two-striped Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis hammondii

Sierra Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis couchii

Mexican Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis eques

Longtail Alpine Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis scalaris

Butler's Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis butleri

Blackbelly Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis melanogaster

Short-tail Alpine Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis scaliger

Yellow-throated Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis pulchrilatus

Short-headed Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis brachystoma

West Coast Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis validus

Giant Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis gigas

Bogert's Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis bogerti

Mexican Wandering Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis errans

Goldenhead Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis chrysocephalus

Narrowhead Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis rufipunctatus

Sumichrast's Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis sumichrasti

Highland Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis fulvus

Ahumada’s Alpine Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis ahumadai

Madrean Narrow-headed Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis unilabialis

Cope's Mountain Meadow Snake
speciesThamnophis copei

Rossman's Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis rossmani

Godman's Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis godmani

Southern Durango Spotted Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis nigronuchalis

Tamaulipan Montane Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis mendax

Tepalcatepec Valley Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis postremus

Montane Garter Snake
speciesThamnophis exsul
Fox's Mountain Meadow Snake
speciesThamnophis foxi
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Thamnophis in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 28339.