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Snakes!!!!!! Were?? I don’t see them
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by ALA_herp31 on October 3, 2005
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Hi ya’ll, I know this question has been ask a thousand times on here this Year, but here we go again. In the past 6 months, my Herping has become literally nothing. For example, this morning the Temperature and Humidity were just right. I expected to find at least one Terrestrial Specimen (Black King, Corn Snake, Rat Snake “Shoot Something”) well, needless to say I found nothing after 5 Hours of searching. I don’t know what the problem is here, but last Year I was finding at least 3-4 Terrestrials a week. Has anyone got any ideas, on what is causing the Populations to drop so bad? It is becoming a scary situation, hope it doesn’t get any worst....................Be safe ya’ll, Happy Herping : Wally
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RE: Snakes!!!!!! Were?? I don’t see them
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by bush_viper17 on October 3, 2005
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Thats what I was beggining to think. Yesterday a friend and I looked for hours and literally found nothing. Then I woke up this morning and walked up a trail and in 5 minutes I found a copperhead and an eastern milk snake. Im about to go back out now and see what else I can find before I have to go to work.
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RE: Snakes!!!!!! Were?? I don’t see them
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by ALA_herp31 on October 3, 2005
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Seems to be a Trend all over the Southeast USA, I can’t put my finger on what is causing the Drop in Population. Does anyone have any idea as to what the Hell is causing this problem, I have heard some People say Cotton Spray? I see no reason why it could be Cotton Spray though, now if they are still using DDT, I would understand why. But, as we all know DDT was Outlawed a long time ago and the new stuff that’s being used, is supposed to be Non-Lethal to all Mammals and Reptiles. Is this a lie, is the stuff their using now just as bad, how can they get away with it if they are Inspected? All these Questions are truly good ones, but what is the real problem? If anyone has any good ideas on this Topic, please let it be known. ..............Be safe ya’ll, Happy Herping : Wally
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RE: Snakes!!!!!! Were?? I don’t see them
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by MoccasinMan on October 3, 2005
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I have had a lot of herp action this fall here on the Outer Banks of NC. Eastern Kings, Black Rats, Racers, Rough Greens, Southern & Eastern Hognose, Rainbows, lots of Cottons, Banded & Brown waters, Ribbons, DeKays, Coachwhips and others. It has been a great year here!
Andrew
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RE: Snakes!!!!!! Were?? I don’t see them
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by timberrattlesnake89 on October 3, 2005
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I do not seem to have a problem. Two weekends ago I caught a canebrake and a copperhead. I also found a smooth earth snake, 1 Dor rough green, 2 Dor black rats, 2 Dor copperheads, 1 Dor Racer, and a AOR midland water snake. I have also caught several water snakes lately near my house. Snakes seem to be plentiful.
Phillip
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RE: Snakes!!!!!! Were?? I don’t see them
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by earthguy on October 4, 2005
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Yesterday I saw (Within an hour of searching):
3 cottonmouths
2 banded watersnakes
1 yellow rat snake (although in my neck of the woods, they're actually olive/green)
No problems here. This is why long-term population studies are so important. We can conjecture what the population may be, but we can be VERY wrong (in either direction). If there is a concern in your area, you should keep accurate herp-logs (indicating vital info such as date, time, conditions, species, sex, size, location, etc) for the specimens that you see/catch. These records can then help biologists determine which populations really NEED to be studied and/or protected.
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RE: Snakes!!!!!! Were?? I don’t see them
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by ALA_herp31 on October 4, 2005
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Hi Joshua, I do keep a complete Herp-Log (Time, Temp, Location, Humidity, DOR or not and Species / Subspecies if possible). But this Year has not been a good Year, it is strange to me that I have not caught as many or more Snakes than last Year (18 is the count for this Year, so far). Just to give you an idea of the change, last Year I caught 70 Snakes. The Year before that I Found more than 80, most of these Snakes were alive. I have never had such a bad Year, I have always caught at least 50 Snakes in one full Year of Herping. I am beginning to think the Weather could be the problem, Hurricanes, Bad Storms, and the Overwhelming Heat we had this Year. It just makes me wonder if this could be the beginning of the end, for our local Populations. Well, the Year isn’t over yet, I will keep looking and see what change comes. Wish me luck ya’ll, I need it for my own Sanity. Makes me fill like I have lost my touch at finding Snakes “LOL”, hope I haven’t..........................Be safe ya’ll, Happy Herping : Wally
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RE: Snakes!!!!!! Were?? I don’t see them
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by Cro on October 4, 2005
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Wally:
You mentioned Cotton Spraying. That can cause local damage to wildlife / plant populations, as the spray that is usually from crop dusting planes can drift to neighboring land. Sometimes the poison can drift over several miles. I have seen this type of damage in South Georgia in farmland adjacent to Cotton Farms. Wildlife populations were damaged. Many of the local folks adjacent to the Cotton Farms saw the problem on their land.
From what I have heard, the State Agriculture Departments are pushing Cotton Farming, as a Soy Bean Substitute Crop, as Cotton prices are very high.
As far as the Government / State Agriculture Departments saying the pesticides / herbacides are safe, LOL, well you can believe that if you want, but the modern products are far more deadly than good old DDT. Was it not the good old Government that once said that DDT was Safe? I can remember seeing in old Boy Scout Handbooks from the 1940s and 50`s that encouraged Scouts to spray DDT around camp sites to prevent ticks and mosquitoes!
What you should do, is a Local Land Survey of the relationship of Cotton Farms that are close to the areas where you say the reptile populations have declined. You should try to determine if they use arial spraying from dusting planes, or in field spraying. Also look into the direction of the prevailing wind, and determine if drift from the Cotton Fields is possible in that direction. It is very possible you have a Local Problem due to Cotton Farming, or perhaps other spraying of crops. There are some stupid farmers who think that if some poison is good, then more is better, and they use illegal amounts of herbacides / pestacides. After all, it is sort of a self-regulated industry. You do not bug-spray Ag-cops checking farmers for illegal pesticide level use, unless someone complains.
Let us know what you find out from your research.
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: Snakes!!!!!! Were?? I don’t see them
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by Sal on October 4, 2005
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I'm sure there has been some general decline over the past decades, but for me, I've been herping in the Southeast (namely Alabama) for the past 6 years and this was by best year yet. Things are slowing down now because its a little cooler at night. This summer when we had rain just about every night, I'd find about 3-5 snakes in a couple hours of road cruising. Not to mention TONS of lizards and turtles. Previously, I haven't been able to find any canebrakes, this year I've seen 4 (1 DOR). Gray rats speckled kings are a little slower than last year, but I've seen a lot more watersnakes than previously.
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RE: Snakes!!!!!! Were?? I don’t see them
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by ALA_herp31 on October 4, 2005
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I am going to check and see if I can find any info on the use of Pesticides, hope it pays off. I will let everyone know what my Research reveals, I hope that the Farmers in the immediate area are not over spraying Fields. Well, we will see the results soon enough. I appreciate everyone replaying to my Post, wish me luck ya’ll. ...........................Be safe ya’ll, Happy Herping :Wally
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