More Signs of Spring

I heard something rustling in the dry leaves and saw these garter snakes alongside the train tracks just behind where I work. There were at least two snakes in the mix, maybe more. I tried not to disturb them but they seemed to be preoccupied anyway. Normally garter snakes would slither away as soon as you got anywhere near. I suspect they were mating, although I never got a good enough look to be sure. Garter snakes give birth to live young rather than laying eggs. (As I found out first hand one childhood summer when a largish one that I had caught turned out to be a pregnant mother and produced many baby garter snakes.)