What do Garden Snakes Eat

Among the different types of snakes, the garden snakes belong to the family Colubridae. They are commonly found in North America. They are also referred to as garter snakes or gardener snakes. They, like all other snakes, are carnivorous. They are opportunistic feeders. Generally, they tend to eat whatever they can find. Younger garden snakes feed on worms that eat leaves and stems of small plants. The diet of garden snakes includes various creatures such as snails, slugs, earthworms, leeches and spiders. Many garden snakes feed on rodents such as mice. They also eat amphibians such as toads, frogs and salamanders. They are immune to the toxic skin secretions of toads. They can eat toads without any harm. When garden snakes dwell near a water body, they also feed on fish, tadpoles and other aquatic animals. Sometimes, they eat small mammals, small birds or lizards. Mostly, they eat live animals. However, they sometimes eat eggs and carrion.

Garden snakes usually hunt in the early morning, late afternoon and early evening, when the temperature is warm. They find their prey using their good sense of smell. They use various hunting methods such as ambushing, craning and peering, in order to capture the prey. They immobilize their prey with their sharp teeth and quick reflexes. Their saliva may be slightly toxic to some of their smaller prey. These snakes swallow their food whole. If the prey is smaller, it is immediately swallowed alive. If the prey is large, the garden snake unhinges its jaws before swallowing. With this ability, the garden snake can swallow a wide variety of prey.