Bluetongue1
Well-Known Member
Did some reading up on corn snakes a few years back for an article in our newsletter, as a follow-up to a behind the scenes visit to the zoo, where they had two baby corns. Given some of the questions and statements made earlier, I feel it is worthwhile putting a few facts into the mix to support the comments made by Jamie and George with regard to Corn snakes.
So why worry about Corn Snakes? They are tolerant of a wide range of environment conditions and adaptable to a wide range of habitats. They are a generalist predator which feeds on a wide variety of prey including frogs, lizards, small mammals, ground dwelling and nesting birds. They have a high fecundity and as illustrated by George, a high survival and hatch rate of eggs. They are also a demonstrated invasive exotic, having established spreading non-native populations in the Cayman Islands, the Virgin Islands and the Bahamas. They are known as a carrier of the parasite, Cryptosporidium, which can infect humans, domestic and native animals, with diarrhoeal disease. They can also carry ticks that spread the bacterium Cowdria ruminatntium that can kill grazing animals.
What this clearly indicates is that should a breeding population establish in the wild in Australia, it would have the capacity to breed in high numbers and spread. Add to that its generalist diet and environmental hardiness, and hatching and survival rates can be expected to be high. These factors would facilitate a rapidly increasing population size.
So why worry about Corn Snakes? They are tolerant of a wide range of environment conditions and adaptable to a wide range of habitats. They are a generalist predator which feeds on a wide variety of prey including frogs, lizards, small mammals, ground dwelling and nesting birds. They have a high fecundity and as illustrated by George, a high survival and hatch rate of eggs. They are also a demonstrated invasive exotic, having established spreading non-native populations in the Cayman Islands, the Virgin Islands and the Bahamas. They are known as a carrier of the parasite, Cryptosporidium, which can infect humans, domestic and native animals, with diarrhoeal disease. They can also carry ticks that spread the bacterium Cowdria ruminatntium that can kill grazing animals.
What this clearly indicates is that should a breeding population establish in the wild in Australia, it would have the capacity to breed in high numbers and spread. Add to that its generalist diet and environmental hardiness, and hatching and survival rates can be expected to be high. These factors would facilitate a rapidly increasing population size.
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