Pattern and Defense: Garter Snakes are so called due to the stripes down their back which resemble garters, used for holding socks up. These stripes are used by the snake as a method of escaping predators. Longitudinal stripes can give the illusion that the animal is moving much slower than it actually is. This is beneficial as a predator would attack where it thinks the snake is rather than where it is going, causing it to miss or be redirected to the tail which lacks major organs. This method of using stripes to avoid predation is known as the “redirection hypothesis” and is believed to be used by many snake and lizard species.
Sources:
Murali, Gopal, and Ullasa kodandaramaiah. "Deceived by Stripes: Conspicuous Patterning on Vital Anterior Body Parts can Redirect Predatory Strikes to Expendable Posterior Organs." National Center for Biotechnology Information, The Royal Society Publishing, 8 June 2016, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4929900/?fbclid=IwAR3fEurPJskmo1WIqzHrSDP_UqKdQAwcPutbw5SerAcu1mnyjlKopebQ430. Accessed 7 Dec. 2021. "Plains Gartersnake." Canadian Herpetological Society, 2022, canadianherpetology.ca/species/species_page.html?cname=Plains%20Gartersnake. Accessed 26 Jan. 2022. |