Photo by Patricia, CC iNaturalist.
Common garter snake
Ranging from pencil thin to broom-handle thick, these are greater Portland’s most colorful snakes. Some are red spotted, others have blue highlights, and all have a white-to-lime-green stripe running down their backs.
Photo by jasonxyouth, CC iNaturalist.
Northwestern garter snake
A string of a snake, this is the drab cousin of the common garter. It’s a regular resident in cities, found in parks and regularly basks on regional trails. These pipsqueaks mainly eat slugs and worms, but they can even hunt fish.
Photo by mbstevents, iNaturalist CC.
Ringneck snake
This blue-gray snake sports a distinctive bright red or yellow neck ring that matches its colorful belly. They live in moist microhabitats, like stumps, where they hunt small reptiles and amphibians, as well as slugs, worms and insects.
Rubber boa
These wrinkly, is-that-a-real-snake? snakes are the northern most members of the boa family. Where its massive southern cousins can hunt deer and capybara, rubber boas eat mice and other small rodents. They live in many habitats.