Department of Integrative Biology

Garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) in Manitoba court and mate at communal overwintering dens and then disperse to feeding ranges in summer. The restriction of mating activities to (tell areas may reduce gene flow between populations from adjacent dens, in turn allowing divergence in traits such as antipredator behavior. We quantified responses of adult male snakes to the approach of human observers at four (lens, prior to dispersal in late spring. Larger snakes bit us more frequently than did smaller individuals, at all four (lens. Although some of the dens were