The garter snake is a particularly fond fan of wetland habitats but can also be found in dry grasslands or in gardens with a pond. The garter snake is often seen basking in the sun by their favorite ponds, or even swimming in the water. They hunt fish, amphibians, and small mammals, as well as birds. Females lay between 10 and 40 eggs in decaying plants. Like all reptiles, snakes hibernate between October and April.

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Garter snake playing dead when threatened

When the garter snake is threatened by one of its predators It often “plays dead”, possibly rendering it less attractive to devour. These predators include badgers and domestic cats, red foxes hedgehogs, and a variety of birds If they are they are caught, the grass snakes hiss as they release an unpleasant liquid through their anal gland. Although they are able to hit their head, they don’t bite and are not harmful to humans. 

The garter snake, which is found all the way from England up to the east of the Mediterranean in the Mediterranean and further, is an unpleasant smell to his ritual of death. When he feces throughout the “death throes,” he produces a specific secretion through his glands in the abdomen that has a strong odor and can be strong enough to ward off numerous attacks.

The Garter snakes do not have venom and instead protect themselves by releasing the foul-tasting, foul-smelling musky from their anal glands. If this isn’t enough to deter predators, then they’ll pretend to be dead in an effort to fool predators which are known as thanatosis behavior.

 

Garter snakes knot themselves and play dead

This is due to the flexibility of garter (and other) snakes, that they sometimes knot themselves as they sink into tight grasses, or slide into cracks with a narrow width. The purpose behind this behavior remains to be determined. It’s certainly not likely to create any problems of any kind. They tend to draw the knot out by using their super-muscular body skeleton to move through the loop as if the knot were not there. 

Tying itself into a knot is also a result of the garter snake’s infamous “play dead” response. If they are threatened by predators, reptiles tend to clump their bodies and stand in their positions, while pulling their tongues and rolling their eyes over their skulls in a show of aplomb. This behavior is fairly typical in adults; however, it is rarer in snakes that are young. It is showing the following: 66% of the wild-caught garter snakes displayed death-feigning behavior in the face of danger.

Behavior with humans

Due to their love of gardens and in particular, for compost piles, garter snakes are commonly seen in gardens. They’re not hazardous to people, but if they’re cornered, they can get hostile. They can puff up their bodies, roaring loudly, and sometimes lunging at you with their mouths closed. 

But, that’s not the only way they behave when they are feeling threatened. Sometimes, they play dead with their mouths wide and their tongues hanging out. If they get caught, they’ll fight vigorously and release the smell of a rotten substance emanating from their glands for anal.

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