I’ve had a few nice encounters with garter snakes as I move wood from the pile to the garage. These images were made on two different occasions so might well be the same one.
These are iPhone shots and I tried for tongue flicks but my finger was not as fast as the snake.
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
Very nice Steve! Enjoyed seeing your Garter snake image! Lately I have only seen one small one in our gardens.
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I didn’t see very many until recently. But I didn’t have any reason to fool with the wood pile and they seem to like sunny on it. Thanks, Reed!
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This reptilian tonguer beats the human finger.
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I watched it for a long time, trying to see a sign that it was about to stick out its tongue but still couldn’t anticipate and get the shot.
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Yeah, I’ve faced that situation from time to time.
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Haven’t seen one in a while, nice catch. I would be afraid of what lives in a wood pile here. Of course people burn wood here, it’s country (Ellen might not agree), but we have too many toxic things around.
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The warmer climate I bet encourages all sort of nasty varmints. Australia is loaded with them.
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Harmless but … yikes! I’d run and keep running! 😀
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LOL These are more afraid of us. If I got too close with the phone it slithered back into the wood. In all the years I’ve encountered this species I have only seen one strike. I guess that’s no comfort to you.. 🙂
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I disturbed a couple of them around my garden plants recently. They moved away before I could get a photo op.
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Once they decide to leave they don’t dally.
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Snakes are so beautiful but they always freak me out when I see them.
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Many people are afraid of them although most snakes do not pose a threat to us. But it is like spiders that way.
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Catching that tongue out is always such a challenge, especially with a phone. But great images, just the same. I love these snakes, always a joy to find them, especially when you’re able to photograph them. I really like that top image, it has a very natural look, almost as if you found it on some fallen trees in the woods.
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I did manage to catch a tongue flick once many years ago. Hard to do with the phone with no fps function. Thanks, Todd.
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Is fps ‘flicks per second’? I love snake photos. They generally have a curious expression, or seem amused. They’re just darned cute.
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It should be. That tongue moves fast. I wish it had just stuck it out at me in defiance. Snakes are cute to me also but sadly not many people share that view. We don’t get the B.C. comic in our paper any longer, some “P.C.” issues, but when we did I was horrified by the pounding the snakes got at the hands of one of the characters (probably the one whose name causes the “issues”). I am quite happy that they hang out in the woodpile.
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Uh — I just walked into the bathroom and discovered a snake. It wasn’t large — maybe 8″, and not much of a diameter. It wasn’t any happier to be there than I was to see it. I manged to get it back outdoors by throwing a towel over it. Lordy.
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Well, at least you didn’t have to go through what this guy did. This happens more often than you might expect.
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Beautiful beings, and beautiful photos, regardless the lack of flicks
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Thanks, Dawn!
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