The harmless Western Terrestrial Garter Snake is one of the most common snakes in our province, and also the most commonly misidentified. Once you take a closer look, however, the differences between the Northern Pacific Rattlesnake and the Western Terrestrial Garter Snake are clear.
In comparison to rattlesnakes, garter snakes have...
• a relatively small head and indistinct neck
• no heat pits
• no rattle, the tail is long and skinny
• many small black dots the size of a pencil eraser
• white stripes down their body [usually]
In addition, the Western Terrestrial Garter Snake is a thinner snake. Rattlesnakes tend to be chunky, thick-bodied snakes.
src: http://www.bcreptiles.ca/rattler_vs_westterrgarter.htm
The Western Rattlesnake is restricted to the very dry B.C. interior. It is known from the Similkameen, Okanagan, Kettle, Lower Nicola, South Thompson, and Fraser valleys (Hobbs and Sarell 2001). Klauber (1972) acknowledged that they may extend into the extreme south Columbia near Trail and there is one record for Castlegar (Royal B.C. Museum record).
src: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/frpa/iwms/documents/Reptiles/r_westernrattlesnake.pdf
Alice Cooper - No More Mr. Nice Guy (Live 1979)
Alice Cooper performing on stage with his Boa Constrictor
Come out caching at dusk, or after dark, if you dare. There's parking along the road very close to the cache. Be careful searching for the cache. There may be snakes around.
A very small bit of the cache is visible if you look closely.
Be very careful walking on and around the broken rock near the hide location. Many of the pieces of rock, even the large ones, are unstable and will shift as weight is put on them.