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The garter snake is one of the most common snakes in most of North and Central America. Colubridae a family. Colubridae is the largest family of snakes with about 1,700 species. Most colubrides either have very mild venom or are completely non-toxic, so they are considered mostly harmless to humans. So what do garter snakes eat?
Despite their harmless appearance and small size compared to the more ferocious predators of the Snake suborder, garter snakes are still quite skilled hunters who feed on a variety of animals. These small snakes are incredibly beneficial from an ecological standpoint, controlling rodent and insect populations, and many gardeners even like to keep a few snakes in their backyards to keep pests out of their crops.
Let’s take a look at what the average garter snake eats on a daily basis, how they find and destroy their prey, and the various higher-level predators they have to look out for as they search for their next meal.
What foods do garter snakes eat?
Like all snakes, over 30 unique species of garter snakes are strict carnivores. This means that they do not eat plant foods and feed exclusively on meat from other animals.
Since they are one of the smaller species of snakes and do not have strong venom or the ability to restrict their prey, they prefer to hunt animals that are small and weak enough to easily ambush and swallow whole.
Garter snakes will also not eat animals that are already dead or decaying! Their prey must be alive for them to be interested in. However, they sometimes eat eggs from small birds and reptiles because they are easy prey and contain a lot of protein.
Here is a list of the many species of animals that garter snakes regularly eat:
- Small invertebrates such as earthworms and slugs
- Frogs and toads
- Insects such as crickets and grasshoppers
- Salamanders
- Newts
- Lizards
- Birds, especially small species
- Small bony fish, eg. minnows and guppies
- Rodents such as mice, shrews, and chipmunks.
- Smaller snakes, especially babies and juveniles
- Snails
- Eggs (from birds, reptiles, or fish)
How do garter snakes hunt prey?
Despite their small size, garter snakes are skilled hunters who use their lightning-fast reflexes to lure their prey into an ambush. They also have excellent eyesight and keen sense of smell. Their keen senses help them find prey and pursue it, regardless of its presence.
The tongue of the garter snake quickly rips out of their mouth and clicks on the ground and air, capturing odors and transmitting information about them to their vomer-nasal organ (also known as Jacobson’s organ). This organ is in the sky.
Their vomer-nasal organ then interprets the information, alerting the snake which prey is nearby and how far away it is (and also detects predatory animals nearby!).
Once they find their next food, the garter snake will wait for the right moment to strike before swallowing the prey whole. They then use powerful muscles throughout the body to slowly move the animal through the digestive tract.
Interestingly, although garter snakes have long been considered non-venomous, more recent research has shown that their saliva actually has very mild neurotoxic venom. While it is somewhat effective for hunting small animals, the venom is mild and non-lethal to humans, especially since gartersnakes lack the hollow fangs needed to efficiently and reliably deliver them to their prey.
What animals do garter snakes eat?
Because they are so small and lack many defense mechanisms, garter snakes usually fall prey to a number of larger animals, including other snakes!
In particular, garter snakes have a large number of mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles to watch out for while hunting for food, for example:
- Foxes
- The Bears
- Bull frogs
- Raccoons
- Hawks
- Snapping turtles
- Crows
- Eagles
- Herons
- Owls
- Larger snakes such as king and coral snakes
Despite their weakness and small size, garter snakes actually have only one fairly effective defense mechanism. They can secrete foul-smelling secretions from the glands surrounding their cloaca, which helps deter some predators!
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