# Biologists Study Snake Movement, Mortality



## News Bot (May 7, 2008)

*Published:* Tue, 06 May 2008 15:12:00 +0000
*Source:* Reptile Related News



From the Semissourian​Most people don't like snakes, regardless of their role in nature. For eons, tales have been spun that have given people a general disdain for and a bad impression of snakes. Fear and misunderstanding are prevalent, leading some people to kill any snake they see, by any and every means. That's a shame, said *Jason Lewis*, a wildlife biologist at *Mingo National Wildlife Refuge* near *Puxico*.

"*Snakes serve a very important role in the ecosystem*," he said. "_Snakes are designed to control pest populations and they eat a lot of frogs, turtles [and] fish._" Reptiles and amphibians, Lewis added, are "_very sensitive to disturbance, and can be used as indicators of environmental change._" *Snake mortality has become a concern at the Mingo refuge* because many are run over by vehicles, whether intentionally or not, during their spring and fall migration periods. The concern has grown to the point officials have begun a study to determine just how snake populations in the refuge are being affected.

*Cost-share grant*
The *U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service*, which operates the Mingo refuge, has teamed with the *Missouri Department of Conservation*, *Missouri State University*, the *Mingo Swamp Friends* and others on a challenge cost-share grant to study snake movement and mortality at Mingo. "_We're concerned about the number of snakes being run over, and the whole idea behind the study is to minimize mortality,_" Lewis said. "_We want to know, 'Are pregnant females being impacted more than males?'_"If they are, he said, that could potentially harm the snake population, because the females produce the young. Lewis also said biologists want to *find out what exactly triggers snake migrations*.

The *western cottonmouth*, a venomous species native to the area, was chosen as the test subject "_because we knew we had a healthy population_," Lewis said. In early April, Lewis and Missouri State University herpetologist *Dr. Brian Green* captured five males and five females at their _hibernaculum_, or winter hibernation location, along the rocky bluffs on the refuge's western boundary. After the snakes were transported to a safe location, Green sedated eight of them and surgically *implanted a flexible radio transmitter* inside their bodies, near their tails. The remaining two were sent to the university later for the procedure. The transmitters will allow officials to use *radio telemetry to track the snakes' movements* over the course of the next year. Officials also plan to capture and implant transmitters in five cottonmouths during the summer at the adjacent *Duck Creek Conservation Area* to include in their study.Read the reminder of the article here.



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