In answer to a question by Susan Collicott, I'm also posting this on
tweeters, assuming some others might wonder about the conspicuous absence
of snakes from Montlake fill.


>Any ideas why there aren't any in the fill?


You can see from my reply to Jan that I've never seen any there either. My
guess is that there weren't any in the immediate area when they created the
landfill, because it was made de novo out of a marsh that may have had too
little in the way of edge habitat to support garter snakes. There's never
been a way for them to move back in. It may not even be a good habitat for
them now--assuming a reintroduction program--because the diversity of prey
wouldn't be sufficient.

Three species of garter snakes are the only common and widespread snakes W
of the Cascades. There are small populations of a few others, but 99+% of
the snakes we see on the west side are garters. The two larger species,
common (Thamnophis sirtalis) and western terrestrial (Thamnophis elegans),
eat fish and amphibians. The smaller species, northwestern garter snake
(Thamnophis ordinoides), eats soft-bodied invertebrates such as slugs and
earthworms. There's not much food at the fill for these critters, other
than bullfrogs around the edge and fish in the water; perhaps the larger
species could make it there.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416