";s:4:"text";s:1336:" These garter snakes will bite, emit a foul smell, or defecate to discourage predators. If your pooch has an encounter with a garter snake, his reaction will depend on what kind of interaction he's had with it. An attractive, medium-sized snake of wet meadows and marshes, the plains gartersnake spends warm summer days basking in the sun or searching for food. Garter snakes are considered mildly venomous, meaning a bite from one could cause irritation but shouldn't be serious. Two Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Garter Snakes Posted on May 31, 2011 by Christian Update : The photograph below (taken by my daughter) is now part of the Wikipedia article on Garter snakes , and is the best picture of a posterior tooth I’ve seen. If he killed the snake without ingesting any of it, he should be fine. Their lateral stripes make them difficult to see in their grassy habitats and as they move. Bottom Line: Garter snakes are harmless to people, though they will bite if cornered and antagonized. The name “garter snake” comes from the comparison of the serpent to the garters men wore years ago to hold up their stockings. When garter snakes hibernate, they will do so in communities with numbers reaching into the hundreds.