Project Summary

Little is known about how management practices in the Red Hills influence the snake community. This is important for two reasons. First, a few common species are potentially important bobwhite egg and chick predators, such as gray rat snakes and corn snakes. Second, biologists are concerned about the declines of several species of snakes that were once abundant, such as hognose snakes and pine snakes. Unfortunately, little information is available on the habitat use, movement patterns, and feeding habits of gray rat snakes and corn snakes, and recent information on the abundance and composition of snake communities on areas managed for bobwhites is lacking.

Therefore, in 2002, we developed a long-term research project to document habitat use of two common species, the gray rat snake and corn snake and to determine how management actions, burning, harvesting timber, supplemental feeding and predator trapping, may influence their abundances. We also sought to document the composition and relative abundance of terrestrial snakes in common habitat types throughout the Red Hills. Finally, we are interested in how diet of these snakes changes through time as major prey items, such as hispid cotton rats and cotton mice, wax and wane.

To document the habitat use of the gray rat snakes and corn snakes, individuals captured on Tall Timbers and Pebble Hill were surgically implanted with radio transmitters. Snakes are then tracked three to four times per week to determine habitat type, cover items (i.e. burrows, deadfalls, brush piles), activity, and other basic data. GIS technology was used to assess movement patterns and home ranges.

To assess snake community ecology, drift fences were set at Tall Timbers, Pebble Hill Plantation, and the Wade Tract, an old growth longleaf-wiregrass site. The fences, constructed of silt erosion control fabric and wooden stakes, are used to direct snakes moving through an area into box and funnel traps. Fences were set for approximately three weeks per month from March through October. Captured individuals are then measured, sexed, and marked with either a unique scute clip or a PIT (passive integrated transponder) tag. This data will allow us to determine survival rates of snakes, gross movement patterns, and diet over time.

The radio telemetry data gathered thus far has revealed some interesting trends. Corn snakes show a much greater affinity for open habitats such as upland pine forests and fallow vegetation fields, whereas gray rat snakes more commonly use bottomland hardwood drains, hardwood trees in the uplands, and hedgerows. Gray rat snakes frequently forage along edges created by fields, drains, and paths. Both corn snakes and gray rat snakes have multiple locations for shelter that they use over the course of a season. They spend most of their time in their shelters and little time traveling or foraging. For example, a gray rat snake may visit the same oak tree four or five times over the span of a few months.

Drift fence trapping has displayed that the Red Hills supports a rich and abundant snake community. Two years of trapping has yielded more than 2600 individuals representing 19 species. Common captures include black racer, cottonmouth, coachwhip, corn snake, gray rat snake, and eastern garter snake. Additional species include Florida pine snake, scarlet snake, eastern hognose, eastern diamondback rattlesnake, and pygmy rattlesnake. By trapping multiple habitats we have observed that coachwhips, are almost exclusively captured in the open uplands and have been captured over large distances. Additionally, the Florida pine snake and eastern hognose, two species of concern due to population declines, have only been recorded on longleaf pine/wiregrass sites.

Our research demonstrates that the snake community of the region is very diverse. Use of different habitats is dependent upon the individual species. However, the fire-maintained, open pine forests seem to support the greatest diversity of snakes, particularly those species which are thought to be of higher conservation concern. The longleaf pine-wiregrass ecosystem also appears to support a different snake community than old-field habitats of the Red Hills region.

Additionally, radioed snakes demonstrate familiarity with the landscape through consistent use of the same habitat features. An important question to address will be to determine what features make a particular cover structure more readily used by snakes than other structures.

Curriculum Vitae

Kim Sash CV

Education

• B.S. The University of Wisconsin - Madison

Contact information

• Kimberly J. Sash

Master of Science Candidate

Daniel B. Warnell School of Forest Resources

The University of Georgia

Tall Timbers Research Station

kjsash@uga.edu