Eastern Garter Snake

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 5:20 pm

Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis. A very common snake in these parts. Not agressive at all. If you pick them up, they might try and bite you, most times they don`t. When first captured they will discharge musk from glands at the base of the tail...very stinky stuff. Their natural foods are mostly cold blooded like frogs, fish, salamanders, tadpoles and earthworms. Head and body about the size of an average pinky finger. This one was about 18" (46cm) long. There I go again...stomach on the ground to get the shot.

Mike B in OKlahoma · Post by **Mike B in OKlahoma** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 5:49 pm

Good show!

Did you ever try turning the IS off while you were using a tripod or other super-steady support?

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 3:39 am

Does "on your belly resting on two elbows" count as a super-steady support (thats like a three legged support

? Usually I leave it on all the time. I am trying to remember to turn it off when using my tripod. These were taken hand held. Do you think I should have turned it off?

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 6:12 am

Great images there Doug!

You know I have seen people go out of their way to kill these and other harmless but benefical snakes.

Mike B in OKlahoma · Post by **Mike B in OKlahoma** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 9:15 am

beetleman wrote: Do you think I should have turned it off?

I've noticed that with my 100-400L lens, if I'm holding it supported on both elbows on an a solid base, often (presumably when I'm doing an especially good job of being stable) the image gets a bit blurry when viewed at 100%.

My suggestion is that you just take some shots from the same position with IS on and IS off and the examine the images at 100%. If there's not a difference you can tell, you can choose whether or not to have IS on or off. If there is a difference between the shots (when experimenting with this sort of thing I either write down notes, or take several one way, then take a totally different shot (maybe a non-macro in your case) to mark when I switched techniques, then take a couple of shots using the other technique I want to try.