Western Terrestrial Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans)

While riding along the shore of Esquimalt Lagoon yesterday I was so busy scanning the horizon for sea-birds that I nearly drove over this little snake as he was crossing the road. In fact, it was such a near miss that I stopped to go back and check to see if he was OK. I'm happy to say I hadn't harmed him and he stayed around long enough for me to capture the above photo. According to an informative article by the Comox Valley Naturalists Society there are 4 species of snake resident on Vancouver Island, three of which are garter snakes. None of them are poisonous or aggressive. This is the Western Terrestrial Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans), characterized by the yellow stripe down his back and brown diamonds on his sides. Garter Snakes are the most widely distributed North American reptile. These are generally pretty small snakes although I have seen some more than 3 feet (1 meter) long. The snake above was about 18 inches (50 cm.) long.