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Index of Subjects --Apple-Mail-119-40691157 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Hi Flora, I'm not sure that there is an explanation beyond the fact that garter snakes can often be pugnacious and aggressive by nature. Conant's Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern North America says, "Many are docile, but others may strike and bite vigorously in self-defense." Stebbins' Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Western North America says, "A spirited snake that defends itself energetically when cornered. When caught, it often bites ..." I think this pugnacious and aggressive behaviour is just part of the character of the animal. Cheers! Chris On 15-Jul-07, at 7:25 AM, Wild Flora wrote: > Thanks to all who shed light on my encounter with the feisty garter > snake. > Although we don't seem to have come up with an explanation, it was > very > interesting to learn that this behavior has been observed by > others. None of > the Internet pages I consulted mentioned such behavior toward > humans, though > I did see quite a few mentions of how aggressive garter snakes can > be in > pursuit of prey. > Flora _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. _. Christopher Majka - Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History 1747 Summer Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3A6 (902) 424-6435 Email <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca> _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. _. --Apple-Mail-119-40691157 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 <HTML><BODY style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; = -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi Flora,<DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I'm not sure that there is = an explanation beyond the fact that garter snakes can often be = pugnacious and aggressive by nature. Conant's Field Guide to the = Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern North America says, "Many are docile, = but others may strike and bite vigorously in = self-defense."=A0</DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Stebbins'=A0Field Guide to = the Reptiles and Amphibians of Western North America says, "A spirited = snake that defends itself energetically when cornered. When caught, it = often bites ..."</DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I think this pugnacious and = aggressive behaviour is just part of the character of the = animal.</DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Cheers!</DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Chris</DIV><DIV><BR><DIV><DIV= >On 15-Jul-07, at 7:25 AM, Wild Flora wrote:</DIV><BR = class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type=3D"cite"><DIV = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; ">Thanks to all who shed light on my encounter with = the feisty garter snake.</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Although we = don't seem to have come up with an explanation, it was very</DIV><DIV = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; ">interesting to learn that this behavior has been = observed by others. None of</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">the Internet = pages I consulted mentioned such behavior toward humans, = though</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">I did see quite a few mentions = of how aggressive garter snakes can be in</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: = 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">pursuit = of prey.</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Flora</DIV> = </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><DIV> <P style=3D"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px = 0.0px"><FONT face=3D"Times" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px = Times">_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._= ._._._.</FONT></P> <P style=3D"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT = face=3D"Times" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px Times">Christopher Majka = - Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History</FONT></P> <P style=3D"margin: = 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face=3D"Times" size=3D"3" style=3D"font: = 12.0px Times">1747 Summer Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada<SPAN = class=3D"Apple-converted-space">=A0 </SPAN>B3H 3A6</FONT></P> <P = style=3D"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face=3D"Times" size=3D"3" = style=3D"font: 12.0px Times">(902) 424-6435 <SPAN = class=3D"Apple-converted-space">=A0 </SPAN>Email <<A = href=3D"mailto:c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca">c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca</A>></F= ONT></P> <P style=3D"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face=3D"Times"= size=3D"3" style=3D"font: 12.0px = Times">_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._= ._._._.</FONT></P> </DIV><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>= --Apple-Mail-119-40691157--
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