About Thamnophis eques (Reuss, 1834)
The Mexican garter snake, Thamnophis eques, is a species of colubrid snake. It is native to Mexico, and to the U.S. states of Arizona and New Mexico. It is a harmless semi-aquatic species. Of the 10 currently recognized subspecies, most are restricted to lake basins in Mexico. Its habitat ranges across the deserts and sky island forests of Arizona and New Mexico, and the thornscrub and rainforests of Mexico. One subspecies, the Lake Chapala garter snake (T. e. obscurus), is endemic to Lake Chapala. Mexican garter snakes are generalist carnivores that feed on a wide variety of prey, including lizards, frogs, toads, tadpoles, and fish. They occasionally also eat earthworms, snails, insects, and small mammals. In north-central Arizona, potential aquatic prey of the Northern Mexican garter snake captured in minnow trap surveys include nonnative species: western mosquitofish, red shiners, green sunfish, bluegills, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, yellow bullheads, black bullheads, common carp, and American bullfrogs (tadpoles, juveniles, and subadults). The captured native prey include Woodhouse’s toads (tadpoles, juveniles, and adults) and hatchling Sonora mud turtles.
