 |
| Red-bellied snake |
 |
| Ring-necked snake |
 |
| Garter snake |
 |
| Garter snake |
 |
| Southern Red-backed vole |
Showing posts with label Ring-necked Snake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ring-necked Snake. Show all posts
More Snakes Encountered Under Cover Boards
This summer’s second round of checking snake cover board
grids yielded great results. At every grid, except two, James Fischer and I
found snakes hiding under the piles of wood trying to escape from the hot and
humid weather. We encountered Red-bellied snakes at three of the piles, which
were not present last time we removed the boards. All the Red-bellied were
small in size (about 7 inches), meaning that they were probably males, likely
waiting for the larger females to arrive. We also came across many more Garter
snakes, especially at the Ongley Pond site, where there was a total of six
counted Garter snakes, one juvenile and five adults. We saw only one Ring-necked
snake at the Apple Hill Lower Field, which was where we spotted one two weeks
ago. At the two grids where we did not have snakes, Wamogo Field and Laurel
Hill; we did find a Red-backed vole and a fairly intact snake skeleton
approximately 12 inches long.
After checking all of the cover boards and noticing the
dramatic increase in snake encounter rate we wondered if this could be due to
the recent hot, humid weather, which would cause the snakes to seek cool
coverage under the wood piles. Although it could also be due to the time of day
we checked the grids. This time we started at 2:00 pm and received our highest
snake numbers at the end of the day, around 5:00 pm. In my last blog about
snake cover boards, we had the most snakes in the morning and I hypothesized
that changing the time of day when the grids were inspected might reveal different
abundances of snakes. Today’s result does develop this hypothesis that perhaps
mornings and late afternoons are the best times to check cover boards. Since we
will be checking the cover boards many more times this summer, we can further
test this question.
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.
On Thursday May 17th, 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.
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.
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. |
 |
| Adult common garter snake |
 |
| Adult ring-necked snake |
Monthly Snake Cover-Board Check
On Wednesday June 29 and July 6, Jamie, fellow volunteer Ryan Gannon, and I conducted the monthly survey of the 12 snake cover-boards that are set up around the property. The snake cover-boards are piles of 30 to 40 boards, which are loosely stacked so they are about 6 inches high and 4 feet long. The boards are made of both soft and hard woods, and the variability of these piles creates lots of fun nooks and crannies for snakes to explore as they find different climate conditions to lie in.
On the 29th, we started off checking the cover-boards in Litchfield, including 2 sets along North Shore Road, and piles in fields behind Harris Rd., Windmill Hill, and Cedar Pond. While we did have the opportunity to do lots of good vegetation management, we found no snakes that morning. Perhaps, we hypothesized, snakes aren’t exactly early risers. Maybe it had something to do with the weather conditions—just above 70˚F, 50% cloud cover, and a light breeze from the northwest. Or maybe all of the snakes in Litchfield have decided that Morris is a much nicer town to live in. Whatever the reason, our afternoon survey of the remaining cover-boards along Alain White Road, and Apple and Laurel Hill, was much more successful.
We found our first snakes of the day in the lower field on Apple Hill. We found 2 juvenile gartersnakes and 1 juvenile ring-neck snake in this pile of cover-boards. The cover-boards in the upper field on Apple Hill yielded 1 adult gartersnake. Our remaining finds that afternoon included 1 adult gartersnake and 1 juvenile northern watersnake in the Alain White Rd. field as well as 2 adult garter snakes back at Ongley Pond.
Yesterday, we realized that we had forgotten to check the cover-board pile at the Laurel Hill field, so headed over at about 11am. This pile turned out to be the big winner with 1 adult gartersnake, 3 adult red-bellied snakes and 1 red eft.
On the 29th, we started off checking the cover-boards in Litchfield, including 2 sets along North Shore Road, and piles in fields behind Harris Rd., Windmill Hill, and Cedar Pond. While we did have the opportunity to do lots of good vegetation management, we found no snakes that morning. Perhaps, we hypothesized, snakes aren’t exactly early risers. Maybe it had something to do with the weather conditions—just above 70˚F, 50% cloud cover, and a light breeze from the northwest. Or maybe all of the snakes in Litchfield have decided that Morris is a much nicer town to live in. Whatever the reason, our afternoon survey of the remaining cover-boards along Alain White Road, and Apple and Laurel Hill, was much more successful.
We found our first snakes of the day in the lower field on Apple Hill. We found 2 juvenile gartersnakes and 1 juvenile ring-neck snake in this pile of cover-boards. The cover-boards in the upper field on Apple Hill yielded 1 adult gartersnake. Our remaining finds that afternoon included 1 adult gartersnake and 1 juvenile northern watersnake in the Alain White Rd. field as well as 2 adult garter snakes back at Ongley Pond.
 |
| Ring-neck snake |
 |
| Northern watersnake |
Yesterday, we realized that we had forgotten to check the cover-board pile at the Laurel Hill field, so headed over at about 11am. This pile turned out to be the big winner with 1 adult gartersnake, 3 adult red-bellied snakes and 1 red eft.
 |
| Red-bellied snake |
 |
| Red-bellied snake's red belly |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)