Ever wonder if snakes, despite their reputation on being cold, solitary creatures can also make friends? 

A new study on garter snakes, a nonvenomous snake from Canada and Costa Rica showed that snakes, like people have preferences about which snakes to hang-out with or befriend. 

The study team, led by Morgan Skinner, of Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada, devised a study that will assess personalities and sociability of eastern garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis). 

The results of the study, which were published in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, shows that garter snakes seek out social contacts and then select with whom they socialize. 

Snakes in the Experiment

The study team observed 40 juvenile eastern garter snakes: 30 were hatched from mothers caught in the wild, while ten were from a single litter purchased from a breeder. 

Ten snakes were grouped in a walled enclosure with four mini houses inside with small entrances. Since the shelters are limited to four, the snakes had to be in a group.

A camera recorded an image of the testing area every five seconds to keep track of the snakes' movements for eight days, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Snakes and their groupings were photographed by Skinner twice a day. Serpents were then removed, the enclosures were regularly cleaned to eliminate any odors, and the snakes were returned to the testing arena but in different places. 

Interestingly, they returned to their previous group of three to eight snakes in a shelter. They regrouped to the specific snake friends that they were with before. 

Miller observed that the snakes have sophisticated, and they can tell others apart.

Snake Personalities 

Scientists, through an experiment, were able to classify the snakes based on personalities: shy or bold. 

An individual snake was placed in a shelter. The shy ones stayed in the enclosure, while the bolder ones freely ventured out on their own.

These personalities did not make a difference once the snakes were in groups.

Friends with Benefits 

"Friendships" have been observed throughout the animal kingdom. A recent analysis of vampire bats, for example, shows that bats, similar to humans, have conditional friendships. 

Scientists now are more open to discovering 'friendships' among animals compared to thirty years ago, probably because the researcher has more advanced tools for gathering and analyzing data. 

Miller cautions that animal friendships "have nothing to do with the reasons humans have friends."

Scientists do not know what precisely motivates a garter snake to make friends. The snakes preferred the same sex as friends; thus, the bond must not be related to procreation. 

According to Miller, such partnerships must have benefits; otherwise, the animals would not form such friendships.

In this case, the snake friends usually stay close together to help them retain heat and defend against predators. 

According to Gordon Burghardt, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Tennessee, the study should show people that contrary to the notion, snakes are not a loner but possesses social intelligence and social repertoire than most of us realize.