Help with snake identification please-PIC

[LyonFuzz]

This little guy was found by my son in Grandma's yard today. As you can see, he is a blueish color and black/grey. We are in Michigan and the only snakes I've seen around here are garters, but they are usually a yellow/green with black/grey. He had a good size bulge in the middle which we assumed was his last meal We let him go again after we took pics. Whatcha think?

 

[justmeandtheflock]

How about a blue racer? http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12145_12201-61208--,00.html

That is a pretty snake and I am not normally a snake fan, lol

 

[KristyHall]

I don't know but it sure is pretty!

 

[cmb19]

Do you have any other pictures? It looks like a garter snake to me in that picture, but I've never personally seen a blue garter even though I know they are found often enough.

 

[bucket&spoon]

whoa that is a cool snake!
i looked it up in my reptile&amphibian guide, and it looks like a garter snake to me. they certainly come in blue, green, and the normal grayish, with and without stripes or spots. the blue racer is a good guess, but the scales on that snake are smooth and flat; looks to me like the scales in this picture are keeled, or ridged along the middle of each scale.
what a great find!

 

[Shanda]

My husband says a garter snake.

 

[LyonFuzz]

This is the only other pic I have of it. I might think blue racer, but it was not as "slimy" looking....more scaley and the face didn't have the same marks on it. It sure was beautiful! I have never seen a blue garter and never even knew they existed, but I hope it procreates and makes some more

 

[cmb19]

Yep, looks like an Eastern garter even more from the second picture.
If it had been a blue racer, you probably wouldn't have caught it.

But yes, the pattern on the snake is just wrong for a racer.

 

[lovin my birds]

What a beautiful snake. I have never seen a blue garter before either, and we have plenty of garter slithering around here. It sure is a pretty snake.

 

[KristyHall]

it looks pretty calm, how long did it take for you to convince it you weren't going to eat it?