Only instead of looking for a lost ball, he was poking at a foot-long checkered garter snake. So Johanningmeier walked over, picked up the snake by its tail and carried it to some nearby trees.

One species commonly found in the U.S. is the Thamnophis sirtalis, or the common garter snake, also known as the ... However, some have a checkered gray or red body with light-colored stripes.