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Opinions needed on tin pieces and snake relocation
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by herperadam on January 20, 2008
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I am cleaning up a nature preserve and recreation area for a large community that was previously a ranch and in the process have run into a patch of trees with a large amount of tin from a barn or something else lying on the ground that needs to be removed. I spent 4 days digging it up and seperating it from tree trunks that had grown around it because it has been lying there so long. Out of probably 50 pieces of tin there were only 3 that had anything living underneath since most pieces were buried under a foot of dirt and plant roots or tilted up like a tent and pretty useless as AC. I found 3 Southern Copperheads, 2 Texas Rat Snakes, 2 Western Ribbon Snakes, and 2 Texas Brown Snakes under those three pieces. Currently I have just piled all the tin up and moved it about twenty feet away to the outside of the trees to be taken away with a trailer in a week or two and put each snake under the pile after photographing.
My question is when I remove the tin from the area for good do you think that any snakes that I find underneath should be left there or should I relocate them to more suitable habitat now that the AC is gone? The patch of trees is probably about 1/2 acre in size in the middle of a disc golf course and is surrounded by open grass on all sides for about 50 feet. If I were to relocate them about 300 feet away beyond the disc golf course they would be in an unfragmented nature preserve that is around 1000 acres in size.
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RE: Opinions needed on tin pieces and snake reloca
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by Peter84Jenkins on January 20, 2008
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I would leave them. Snakes are vary efficient animals and they are capable of finding other places to hide and hunt. This is in contrast to say the destruction of a den or hibernacula which are micro habitats that have been used for generations and they are “programmed” to return to as seasonal signals and biological signals are experienced. It’s unlikely that the tin or AC in general is anything more than a “truck stop” therefore I see no detrimental consequence for cleaning it up and leaving the snakes to make there own way just as they have done for centuries. They will find the nature preserve on their own. This is just my own personal opinion. I hope it helps. Oh, can you relocate the AC to the other patch of woods? I have had to do that numerous times for my grandfathers hunting lease and the snakes find it all the time. I used to throw out left over corn from the food plots to bring in the rodents.
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RE: Opinions needed on tin pieces and snake reloca
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by BobH on January 20, 2008
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I would opt for relocating them in the protected area. However, it sounds like you disturbed their hibernacula and you will have to make sure that you put them somewhere that they can easily get away from freezing temperatures. I would watch the long term (week to 10 days) forecast and only put the back if there is going to be several days without freezing temperatures. Maybe you can move the tin with them.
Good luck.
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RE: Opinions needed on tin pieces and snake reloca
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by Cro on January 20, 2008
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The 1000 acre preserve would offer a lot more potetial hibernacula for the snakes than would the half acre.
Also, it would keep them from having to cross the golf course, where some golfer is likely to beat them to death with a golf club, or run them over with a golf cart.
Because the move is only 300 feet, I think I would re-locate them to the nature preserve.
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: Opinions needed on tin pieces and snake reloca
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by agkistrodude on January 20, 2008
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I agree with relocating the 300 ft to the nature preserve. Just check the weather forecast to be sure it wont be too cold. MartyM
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RE: Opinions needed on tin pieces and snake reloca
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by herperadam on January 20, 2008
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Unfortunately we went from 70 to 80 degree days last week to about 25 degrees this morning with puddles of ice on the ground so there's no telling what temperature it will be yet with the swings we've been having. In the past I tried moving a car hood to a less noticable spot within a different community and when I checked it a couple of months later it had turned into an enormous fire ant mound so i'm not sure if moving any of the tin would be worthwile here or not although I might try it with a couple small pieces. I just don't like how the current patch of trees is isolated with constant disc golfers around it and in all likelyhood if any of them see a Copperhead on the course they will probably try to kill it. At the moment i'm leaning towards moving them since it is so small of a distance and if they want to come back that is their option.
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RE: Opinions needed on tin pieces and snake reloca
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by herperadam on January 28, 2008
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Just figured i'd throw in an update. It was about 70 degrees out today and the rain finally stopped so I went to move the tin pieces. Out of all the snakes that were in the area not a single one was hiding under the tin this time so didn't have to move anything looks like they found somewhere else on their own.
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