Results of Monthly Snake Cover Board Inspection

Currently there are twelve snake cover board sites on White Memorial Conservation Center’s forested land. Over the next couple of weeks we plan on multiplying these cover board sites in order to really discover snake diversity and population status of established species at WMCC. Also, by setting the cover boards in varying habitats, such as at high elevations or sandy fields we can learn more about snake habitat and areas with high snake density.

The cover boards typically consist of about 45 pieces of 3-4 feet long hard or soft wood boards that are layered loosely on top of one another. The stacking of the boards creates a cool, dark, and damp habitat that snakes typically prefer to live in. The wood also attracts many insects, such as earthworms, slugs, and beetles, as well as salamanders that the snakes consume. 

Typical snake cover board pile.

On Thursday May 17^th, Jamie Fischer, Jared Franklin, and I went to every pile and gently removed each piece of wood in hopes of finding snakes. The weather could not have been any more perfect, with clear skies, little wind, and temperatures in the upper 60s. Three of the cover board piles were successful and had snake inhabitants. The first cover board pile that we checked at the Apple Hill Lower Field had both an adult common garter snake (Thamnophis s. sirtalis) and an adult ring-necked snake (Diadophis punctatus edwardsii). At the Solnit Parcel we discovered one adult garter snake, one juvenile garter snake (less than 15 inches long), and pieces of an adult garter snake that was likely a leftover meal from a short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda) that we found scurrying in the pile. Finally, the cover board pile at Old Camp Townsend generated one adult garter snake.


Adult common garter snake

Adult ring-necked snake

It is noteworthy that the piles we found snakes at were all checked between 9:30 and 11:30 am, when the air was cooler, in the low 60’s. The next time we check these piles, we thought it would be interesting to reverse the order, and check the piles in the mornings, that were checked this time in the afternoon. If we yield any snakes, then it can be hypothesized that time of day or temperature may affect the encounter rate of snakes. 

More sightings from yesterday's Webster Rd. walk

Turkey Vulture photo from northshoreinfoblog.com

via Google Images

My last posting highlighted the American Kestrel that we saw on our group's walk along Webster Rd. yesterday. However, that wasn't the only notable species that we saw. Within seconds of seeing the Kestrel a member of our group who was still scanning the sky spotted something much larger and darker. When I got my binoculars on it I identified it as a Turkey Vulture. This is the first one for White Memorial in 2011, and arrived it right on target with usual first date of arrival for this species here. It headed due east, so I'm sure that the second one which appeared a few minutes later from the south and headed east was a different bird, as was the one that came in from the west a few minutes after that and headed north right over us. Since 3 deer have been found dead on the Property this week, and other dead ones may be out there, vultures may be able to find enough to eat now that they are back. They also could dine on road-kill, like the Opossum that we encountered a little farther down the road. We also found a squashed Short-tailed Shrew, but I think that it was too flattened even for a vulture to eat. Back to the live stuff, but still on the subject of eating, we saw an interesting behavior as we were watching a group of Golden-crowned Kinglets in Catlin Woods. They kept going down to the snow on the ground, and were obviously picking up and eating things. Upon closer examination with my binoculars, and later with my eyes, I could see that they were eating Snow Fleas. Usually, we think of these birds as eating scale insects, adelgids, and various pupae and larvae from the leaves, needles, and bark of trees, but this observation shows that they will take advantage of whatever insects or other invertebrates that they can find. In that same area, as well as farther east along the road, we also saw Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches, a Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Brown Creepers foraging for insects in various ways among the trees and shrubs. This may very well have been due to an increase in invertebrate activity brought on by the sun's warmth and rising temperatures. This is something for people to remember when looking for birds in the winter or any other cool time: go to places in the sunshine. That's why it is often productive to look for birds on east facing slopes in the morning and west facing slopes in the afternoon.