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Northwestern gartersnake

Thamnophis ordinoides · Snakes · Reptiles

Northwestern gartersnake (Thamnophis ordinoides): Highly variable: brown, gray or black back, sometimes with a green or bluish tint, with a red tongue. Vertebral stripe usually yellow or orange (also red, white or blue) and may fade or be absent; lateral stripe indistinct or absent. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Thamnophis ordinoides
Family
Colubridae
In North America
Native
Range
Northern half of Humboldt County, California north through Oregon and Washington, east to the Cascades and west to the Pacific, and in Canada in southwestern British Columbia (Vancouver Island, Vancouver, north to Bella Coola).
Biology

How to identify it

Highly variable: brown, gray or black back, sometimes with a green or bluish tint, with a red tongue. [1][2]

Vertebral stripe usually yellow or orange (also red, white or blue) and may fade or be absent; lateral stripe indistinct or absent. [1][2]

Small dark marks on the scales either side of the vertebral stripe are common. [1][2]

Adults 22.5-95 cm, most averaging 40 cm; females larger, males with slightly longer tails. [1][2]

Field knowledge

Where it lives

Grasslands, meadows, shrublands, wetlands and forest, most often along the wood line or forest-edge thickets; unlike most garter snakes not commonly tied to open water; 0-1,800 m. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Diurnal and solitary, constantly moving in search of food; a slug specialist (especially banana slugs) that also takes earthworms, and occasionally small frogs and salamanders. [1][2]

Finds prey largely by chemical cues; uses the sun to orient to den sites. [1][2]

Hibernates in winter and breeds on emerging in spring; females store sperm. [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Northern half of Humboldt County, California north through Oregon and Washington, east to the Cascades and west to the Pacific, and in Canada in southwestern British Columbia (Vancouver Island, Vancouver, north to Bella Coola).

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology