Let's Be Friendssssssss: How Sociable Are Garter Snakes?

Garter snakes actively seek out social interaction, and even have preferred groups of snakes to spend time with.

Not a garter snake (a grass snake in Richmond Park, London) (Credit: Poppy Simon)

Snakes, along with other reptiles, have generally been thought of as nonsocial animals, but there is a growing evidence that this might not be the case. A team from Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada tested juvenile Eastern garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) for individual differences in boldness and sociability, and looked at whether or not these traits affected how they interacted with other snakes.

The researchers discovered that the snakes' aggregation patterns were indeed influenced by their individual boldness and sociability. While the snakes actively sought to join and remain part of groups, this was influenced by individual variability in boldness and sociability. They also showed a preference for certain groups, trying to reform original groups after these had been shuffled about by the researchers. The juveniles mostly tended to choose larger groups, and stayed in bigger groups longer, although this was not the case for older snakes.

The authors hope that this study will help with conservation of Eastern garter snakes, and encourage consideration of existent social patterns when snakes are moved, for example in cases of introduction to vulnerable populations or establishing new populations in the wild.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-020-2827-0

Skinner, M., Miller, N. Aggregation and social interaction in garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 74, 51 (2020).