Common name: Butler's gartersnake
Scientific name: Thamnophis butleri
How to identify them
Butler's gartersnakes look a lot like their cousins, the common gartersnake and the plains gartersnake. You don't need to worry about this unless you live in the southern part of the state where their ranges overlap.
Butler's gartersnakes are usually a little smaller as adults than other gartersnakes. Like other gartersnakes, their backs are brown, black, or olive. They may have a double row of black spots between the stripes. They have side stripes that are light yellow to a rich orange-yellow color. You need to count the scale rows where the stripes are or ask a gartersnake expert to positively identify this species.
Where they live
Butler's gartersnakes live in wet to dry prairies, marshes, old fields, roadsides grassy areas, and vacant lots.
What they eat
Earthworms make up most of their diet.
Did you know?
Butler's gartersnakes were named for an Indiana naturalist, Amos Butler. They are called gartersnakes because people thought they looked like the garters that people used to wear to hold up their socks!