# Garter snake

S garter snake 

Difficulty

3

Attacks

Bite 1d2

S garter snake 

Difficulty

3

Attacks

Bite 1d2

Base level

1

Base experience

8

Speed

8

Base AC

8

Base MR

0

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

50

Nutritional value

60

Size

Tiny

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A garter snake:

 can swim.

 can hide under items.

 cannot pick up items.

 has no limbs.

 is an animal.
 has a serpent body.

 can lay eggs.

 is carnivorous.

 normally appears in large groups.

Reference

monst.c#line1746

The garter snake, S, is a variety of snake that appears in NetHack. Unlike most of their brethren, they are not poisonous, but can hide under objects and may prove to be an annoyance when generating in large groups.
Garter snakes are often the first hiding monsters a player may encounter.

Contents

1 Generation
2 Strategy
3 History
4 Origin
5 Encyclopedia entry

Generation
Garter snakes can appear in groups of 2 to 11, and will occasionally generate as peaceful towards neutral player characters.

Strategy
Garter snakes are quite harmless on their own, but their tendency to appear early and in groups can spell doom for a weaker or careless character, though they can be handled fairly easily otherwise. Their ability to hide makes for a rude surprise when encountered in shops, though not nearly to the level of most mimics. Pets that are not terribly weak themselves should have no trouble dispatching a group of them.

History
Garter snakes first appear in NetHack 3.0.0.

Origin

Wikipedia has an article about:
Garter snake

Garter snakes are a group of generally harmless, small to medium-sized snakes commonly known snakes found in North America. While real garter snakes are venomous, they are only mildly so, and they can only become poisonous by feeding on toxic newts and retaining those toxins.

Encyclopedia entry
See the encyclopedia entry for snake.