Yes, wow, look at that.
That may be the
largest garter snake
I have ever caught in Ohio, wow.
(energetic drum music)
Wait, wait, Coyote Pack.
Before you guys watch the video,
have a big announcement to make.
Now, we are doing an exclusive
once-in-a-lifetime giveaway.
I'm gonna be
producing five videos.
That's me making a video for
you, a personalized video.
Now, after you
watch the episode,
like, the entire episode,
click on the link in the
video description below
for all the details
on how you can win.
Uh-oh, alright guys, I gotta go.
But, good luck,
see ya later, ah.
Lake Erie is considered
to be the fourth largest
of the five Great
Lakes in North America.
And jutting from its
aquamarine waters
are a series of
archipelagic islands.
These unique land masses
have isolated within
their lush confines,
a limited, yet eclectic
mix of animal species,
most notably, their snakes.
Today we are kayaking toward
the shore of North Bass Island.
During the first season
of Breaking Trail,
we explored this
island's coastline,
where we encountered, caught,
and got up close for the cameras
its most famous snake species,
the Lake Erie water snake.
These reptiles are
primarily aquatic,
and spend their days
hunting for fish,
and the invasive romgobi.
And while they are
often misidentified
as venomous water moccasins,
the Lake Erie water snake
is actually a non-venomous,
and completely harmless species.
This mission returns
us to North Bass,
where we plan to explore
the island's interior
in search of its most elusive
reptile, the fox snake.
(water rippling)
- [Mario] Alright.
(grunting)
- [Coyote] Well, you made it,
from Middle Bass, past Sugar,
and finally to North Bass.
- Let's do it.
- Now this,
- [Coyote] will be our
playground for the day,
are you excited?
- Yeah, let's do it.
(upbeat music)
- [Coyote] North Bass Island
spans nearly 700 acres.
Most of which is
uninhabited by humans,
making it the perfect
refuge for animals.
As we began exploring,
the path of least resistance
found us following
an old road that runs along
the southern shoreline.
Early in the morning,
this had potential
as the perfect
place to find snakes
basking in warm sunlight,
and it wasn't long before Mario
spotted the first serpent.
Okay guys, we got
our first snake.
Looks like it might be
some species of garter.
Let me see if I can get
a hand on it real quick.
(dramatic music)
Oh, got it.
- Nice.
- Oh, just a little guy.
Beautiful, look at that.
- Oh, look at that guy.
- That's a garter snake.
Little tiny one, oh,
gettin' pooped on.
Ugh, look at that
beautiful snake.
Wow.
I'm not sure exactly what
variety of garter snake that is.
There are many
different species,
we'll have to look this one up.
It's likely just an
eastern garter snake,
but they have several
different color variations
that they come in, and
this one almost has
a turquoise stripe right
down the center of its back.
I bet you this snake just
recently shed its skin,
and the way that I can tell
there's a lot of iridescence
to the scales on its head,
and running the
length of the body.
Look at the belly,
extremely smooth scales.
Keeled scaled snake,
allows him to easily
move through these rocks,
and this time in the morning,
the snakes are just coming
out to sun themselves,
where they'll heat up,
and then head out
to hunt for the day.
I would say that's a good
start to our adventure
here on North Bass Island.
One snake in the
first five minutes.
Alright, let's let this one go.
It wasn't a fox snake,
but we were off to a good start.
In fact, when it came
to garter snakes,
we couldn't catch
enough of them.
Garter snakes everywhere
on North Bass Island.
Depending on the time of year,
garter snakes, often mistakenly
called garden snakes,
can be incredibly plentiful.
When it comes to
their natural range,
this species spans throughout
most of North America,
and is arguably the most
common snake in the world.
When it comes North Bass Island,
I think it's safe to say,
that there are no shortage
of these friendly snakes.
Well, I found some
more garter snakes.
- [Mario] Whoa.
- Three more garter
snakes in just a matter
of about 15 minutes.
I would say that there
is no question about it,
North Bass Island is
definitely Snake Island.
(upbeat music)
We moved further
along the roadway,
and eventually came to
an abandoned building.
This was a perfect place
to search for fox snakes,
as they often hide
under fallen debris.
So flipping boards, or
pieces of scrap metal,
I hoped would yield the
results we searched for.
Yet once again, all we found
was another garter snake.
But this one, oh, garter
snake, was a giant.
Yes, wow, look at that.
Hold on, back up
just a touch there.
That may be the
largest garter snake
I have ever caught in Ohio.
Wow, incredibly docile too.
Now, that's one of the things
I love about garter snakes,
is they very rarely
try to strike.
Look at that snake,
absolutely beautiful,
and this one looks like
it may have just shed,
and the way I can tell that
is look at all the
iridescence in its skin.
Look at the coloration
in that eye,
the dark pupil, and
the copper tones
that surround it on the outside.
And then all of that
orange coloration
that runs down the
length of the body.
This is one of the
prettiest garter snakes
I have ever seen.
And when a snake
freshly sheds like this,
it has a lot of
iridescence to its scales.
Now as we know, snakes
shed their skins
throughout the
course of their life.
As they grow, they become
too large for their skin.
They shed it, and then they
have this beautiful coloration,
and as snakes grow, and they
get ready to shed their skin,
they actually will
be dull in color.
And sometimes you
may see a snake
that looks like
perhaps its blind.
The eye might be clouded.
That's just the eye scale
also getting ready to shed.
Now as we know, snakes
do not have eyelids.
They actually have a
protective scale over their eye
that also sheds at the time
when the snake sheds
its entire body.
Wow, look how calm it is.
And now, this time of day,
when the suns just
beginning to come out
is when these snakes
are gonna start hunting.
And this one is
an absolute giant.
Look at that, that snake is
almost three feet in length.
Wow, have you ever seen a
garter snake this big before?
- [Mario] That's a good one.
- That is a good one right
there. Look how calm it is.
It's still pretty
cool out right now.
The snake hasn't had the
chance to come out and sun yet.
If it had, it would be
slithering much faster
trying to get away.
Now, what garter snakes
are out here hunting for
is pretty much any
opportunistic prey item
they can come across.
Small rodents, frogs, toads,
even insects are fair game
for a reptile like this.
Now I do know that they have
a slight anticoagulant
in their saliva,
which when they
bite their prey item
will cause it to bleed
more than normal.
This blood acts as a lubricant
to help the snake
swallow its prey whole.
As we know, snakes do
not chew their food,
they expand their jaws, and
then work that prey item
down into the throat
and throughout the
course of the body.
And the thing I
love about snakes
is you think of them as
just being heads and tails.
Snakes are mostly
necks, despite the fact
that this is a body.
You have a spinal column running
the entire length of the snake,
and then ribs that
encapsulate all of the organs.
Such a cool reptile.
Now maybe what we can
do, let's do this.
I'm gonna actually set
it down on the grass.
We've got a completely
controlled situation here,
and watch the way that this
snake just slinks along.
And that's what they'll do,
they'll poke their
heads up like that.
They have great vision.
They also use that forked
tongue to sense the environment.
What that snake
is doing right now
is its tasting
chemicals in the air,
trying to determine is
there any predator close by?
Is there any prey close by?
And look at that.
Look how fast the snake is
actually capable of moving
when its in open
space like this.
And I love that design.
Look at that turquoise stripe
running down the
length of the body,
just over the spinal column,
and then the yellowish
coloration on the side.
Such a cool reptile.
There we go, wow, what
an excellent find.
One of the largest garter
snakes I have ever caught,
and actually the first time
we've ever featured
a garter snake
on the Brave Wilderness Channel.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave.
Stay wild, we'll see ya
on the next adventure.
You know what I'm gonna do,
just set her right
down in the grass here,
let's watch her slither off.
Got a good shot?
- Yep.
- [Coyote] Later sweetie.
The garter is one of the most
common snake species
in the world,
and it's likely a reptile
you have encountered
in your own backyard.
They are non-venomous,
completely harmless,
and will always do their
best to avoid humans.
So this snake is
absolutely nothing to fear.
North Bass Island
is certainly home
to a healthy population of
these slithering serpents,
yet the Holy Grail of
reptiles that we sought after
was going to be much
more difficult to find,
and ultimately catch.
Stay tuned for the
magnificent conclusion,
as we go head first after
the elusive fox snake.
And don't forget, subscribe,
so you can join me and the crew
on this season of
Breaking Trail.
(logo whooshing)
(coyote baying)
