ScienceDaily (Feb. 21, 2012) — A small population of rattlesnakes that already is in decline in southern Illinois faces a new and unexpected threat in the form of a fungus rarely seen in the wild, researchers report.
The eastern massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus catenatus), a candidate for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, suffers from habitat loss and environmental stresses wherever it is found, said University of Illinois comparative biosciences visiting instructor and wildlife veterinarian Matthew Allender, who led the health investigation. Long-term population studies of the snake -- in Illinois and elsewhere -- had never turned up evidence of debilitating fungal infections. But in 2008, biologists studying the snake reported to Allender that they had found three sick snakes in a park in southern Illinois, all with disfiguring lesions on their heads. The snakes died within three weeks of their discovery. A fourth snake with a similar syndrome was discovered in the same park in the spring of 2010.
Read on: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221151543.htm
Showing posts with label rattlesnake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rattlesnake. Show all posts
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Rattlesnake roundup in Georgia now a humane wildlife festival
Calls for final roundup to do the same
January 2012: Georgia could soon say goodbye to the outdated ‘rattlesnake roundups'. The Evans County Wildlife Club in Claxton, Georgia, have changed their annual round-up to a wildlife festival where snakes will be celebrated rather than collected in their hundreds and butchered for their meat and skin.
The Center for Biological Diversity, Coastal Plains Institute, Protect All Living Species and One More Generation have sent a letter to the club, congratulating them on the decision, and are also presenting a 5,000-strong petition to Whigham Coummunity Club, which hosts the state's last remaining rattlesnake roundup.
‘We're so happy the rattlesnake roundup in Claxton is being switched to a humane event that celebrates these great native animals and recognizes the importance of saving them,' said Collette Adkins Giese, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity who works to protect rare and vanishing reptiles and amphibians. ‘The Whigham Community Club needs to follow suit. It needs to recognize that massacres of endangered animals are just wrong, and clearly the wrong message to send to young people about our relationship to the natural world.'
'All wildlife has a valuable place in nature'The Evans County Wildlife Club is replacing its annual rattlesnake roundup with the Claxton Rattlesnake and Wildlife Festival, which will feature displays of the imperilled eastern diamondback rattlesnake and other native wildlife. Educational programmes, entertainment and a variety of other activities will be offered at the event, held during the second weekend in March.
Friday, February 4, 2011
TWO GEORGIA COUNTIES ASKED TO ENFORCE STATE WILDLIFE LAWS AT RATTLESNAKE ROUNDUPS (Via Herp Digest)
TWO GEORGIA COUNTIES ASKED TO ENFORCE STATE WILDLIFE LAWS AT RATTLESNAKE ROUNDUPS
Atlanta- 2/3/11 CBD Press Release-The Center for Biological Diversity and allies today sent a letter to law-enforcement officials in Grady and Evans counties, Georgia, calling for enforcement of state wildlife laws at "rattlesnake roundups" - annual contests in which hunters bring in as many snakes as they can catch in a year to be milked for venom, butchered, then sold for meat and skin. Two roundups take place every year in Georgia, one in Whigham in January, the other in Claxton in March. The letter was sent to the sheriffs of Grady and Evans counties and to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Georgia state law requires that a wildlife exhibition permit be obtained from the Department of Natural Resources before wildlife is publicly displayed. Another law states that wildlife cannot be brought into the state without obtaining an importation permit. The letter asks that appropriate law-enforcement measures be taken before and during the roundups to ensure that the events are in compliance with state laws. The letter was sent by the Center, Coastal Plains Institute and Land Conservancy and One More Generation.
"We are concerned that the rattlesnake roundups may be violating state wildlife laws, and we urge law-enforcement officials to take action to enforce those laws," said Tierra Curry, a biologist at the Center. "It is time to end rattlesnake roundups."
A recently published study shows that rattlesnake roundups have depleted populations of Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes in the southeastern United States: This once-common species is being pushed toward extinction by hunting pressure, habitat loss and road mortality. The snake hasn't been seen in Louisiana since 1980, and is now uncommon throughout its range in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and the Carolinas.
In response to dwindling rattlesnake populations, public pressure and environmental concerns, the town of Fitzgerald, Georgia, replaced its rattlesnake roundup with a wild chicken festival, which organizers report has been an enormous success.
"All rattlesnake roundups should be replaced with festivals celebrating wildlife and offering educational programs on the importance of saving native species," said Dr. Bruce Means, author of the recent study and executive director of the Coastal Plains Institute and Land Conservancy.
Last January the Center and allies called on Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to amend state law to ban rattlesnake roundups and to work with communities to replace the roundups with wildlife festivals. The Center has also urged the state to investigate the extent of gassing and destruction of Gopher Tortoise burrows to collect snakes for rattlesnake roundups. Though the practice is illegal, hunters commonly catch snakes by pouring gasoline or ammonia into burrows or by digging out the burrows. In January 2010, four men were apprehended pouring gasoline into tortoise burrows before the Whigham roundup. Pouring gasoline into burrows sickens or kills the animals inside and makes the burrows unusable for tortoises and the hundreds of other wildlife species that use tortoise burrows.
"Rattlesnakes are an important part of the web of life that help control rodent populations," said Jim Ries, community director at One More Generation. "Roundups are harmful to the healthy environment on which we all depend, and must be banned."
For more information, contact;
Tierra Curry, Center for Biological Diversity, (928) 522-3681
Dr. Bruce Means, Coastal Plains Institute and Land Conservancy, (850) 681-6208
Jim Ries, One More Generation, (678) 491-6222
Atlanta- 2/3/11 CBD Press Release-The Center for Biological Diversity and allies today sent a letter to law-enforcement officials in Grady and Evans counties, Georgia, calling for enforcement of state wildlife laws at "rattlesnake roundups" - annual contests in which hunters bring in as many snakes as they can catch in a year to be milked for venom, butchered, then sold for meat and skin. Two roundups take place every year in Georgia, one in Whigham in January, the other in Claxton in March. The letter was sent to the sheriffs of Grady and Evans counties and to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Georgia state law requires that a wildlife exhibition permit be obtained from the Department of Natural Resources before wildlife is publicly displayed. Another law states that wildlife cannot be brought into the state without obtaining an importation permit. The letter asks that appropriate law-enforcement measures be taken before and during the roundups to ensure that the events are in compliance with state laws. The letter was sent by the Center, Coastal Plains Institute and Land Conservancy and One More Generation.
"We are concerned that the rattlesnake roundups may be violating state wildlife laws, and we urge law-enforcement officials to take action to enforce those laws," said Tierra Curry, a biologist at the Center. "It is time to end rattlesnake roundups."
A recently published study shows that rattlesnake roundups have depleted populations of Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes in the southeastern United States: This once-common species is being pushed toward extinction by hunting pressure, habitat loss and road mortality. The snake hasn't been seen in Louisiana since 1980, and is now uncommon throughout its range in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and the Carolinas.
In response to dwindling rattlesnake populations, public pressure and environmental concerns, the town of Fitzgerald, Georgia, replaced its rattlesnake roundup with a wild chicken festival, which organizers report has been an enormous success.
"All rattlesnake roundups should be replaced with festivals celebrating wildlife and offering educational programs on the importance of saving native species," said Dr. Bruce Means, author of the recent study and executive director of the Coastal Plains Institute and Land Conservancy.
Last January the Center and allies called on Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to amend state law to ban rattlesnake roundups and to work with communities to replace the roundups with wildlife festivals. The Center has also urged the state to investigate the extent of gassing and destruction of Gopher Tortoise burrows to collect snakes for rattlesnake roundups. Though the practice is illegal, hunters commonly catch snakes by pouring gasoline or ammonia into burrows or by digging out the burrows. In January 2010, four men were apprehended pouring gasoline into tortoise burrows before the Whigham roundup. Pouring gasoline into burrows sickens or kills the animals inside and makes the burrows unusable for tortoises and the hundreds of other wildlife species that use tortoise burrows.
"Rattlesnakes are an important part of the web of life that help control rodent populations," said Jim Ries, community director at One More Generation. "Roundups are harmful to the healthy environment on which we all depend, and must be banned."
For more information, contact;
Tierra Curry, Center for Biological Diversity, (928) 522-3681
Dr. Bruce Means, Coastal Plains Institute and Land Conservancy, (850) 681-6208
Jim Ries, One More Generation, (678) 491-6222
Monday, September 6, 2010
Atlanta Zoo Faces State Inspection After Snake Escape (Via HerpDigest)
Atlanta Zoo Faces State Inspection After Snake Escape (Tiger Cobra)
By Kate Brumback AP, 9/1/10
ATLANTA - Georgia wildlife officials plan to inspect an Atlanta zoo after a rattlesnake was able to escape and slither around a city neighborhood, where it was discovered by a 2-year-old boy.
After spending Saturday afternoon at the nearby park that surrounds Zoo Atlanta, the Mower family returned to a house they are renovating across the street from the zoo. When their toddler, Pierce, ran out onto the porch, his mother followed and saw the venomous snake just feet away from her son.
"It's hard because I keep thinking about how close my child and I were to that snake," Marie Mower said today.
Zoo Atlanta staff noticed the female tiger rattlesnake was missing during a routine check late Friday but have said they believed it probably remained inside the building where it was caged. Because of the reptile's nocturnal nature and dislike of people, they said they believed that if it had exited the building it wouldn't likely be a significant danger to anyone.
The Mowers thought about calling animal control but were worried the snake would wriggle away and continue to lurk outside their house. Instead, Guy Mower grabbed an extra floorboard and used it to kill the snake, his wife said.
She said she wishes the zoo had done a better job of notifying neighbors.
"No alert or no signs could have prevented the snake from ending up on our porch, but if we'd known it was missing from the zoo, my husband might not have had to kill the snake," she said.
Marie Mower saw media reports about the missing snake late Sunday and called the zoo early Monday. A zoo staff member sent to the house immediately confirmed that it was the missing rattlesnake.
Zoo officials called the Mowers to apologize after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Tuesday that her son had found the snake, Mower said.
Zoo president and CEO Raymond King also issued a public apology Tuesday afternoon.
Zoo officials have said a staff member did not properly secure a door to the cage holding the snake, which had been confiscated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and was being housed temporarily at the zoo.
"As a result of this unfortunate event, we are re-evaluating our procedures and protocols regarding animal management and how we communicate to the public, our members, our guests and neighbors," King wrote. "We apologize to anyone who was unaware of the incident, and we regret any worry felt by our community."
An inspection team from Georgia's Department of Natural Resources will be sent to Zoo Atlanta in the next week or two to investigate the escape, which violates the zoo's state-issued permit to keep wild animals, DNR spokeswoman Lauren Curry said.
The inspection should take about a day and a letter containing the team's findings will be sent to the zoo within a week and will be made public.
Authorities have not decided whether the zoo will face any penalties, but they generally take into account a facility's history and the nature of the violation, Curry said. By law, state wildlife officials can impose a range of sanctions, ranging from a letter ordering a zoo to make improvements to seizing its animals, imposing a $1,000 fine per violation and revoking its permit for two years in an extreme case.
Georgia is home to six species of venomous snakes, according to the website of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife Resources Division. The tiger rattlesnake is not among them, but comes from the southwestern United States.
_____________________________________________________________________________
By Kate Brumback AP, 9/1/10
ATLANTA - Georgia wildlife officials plan to inspect an Atlanta zoo after a rattlesnake was able to escape and slither around a city neighborhood, where it was discovered by a 2-year-old boy.
After spending Saturday afternoon at the nearby park that surrounds Zoo Atlanta, the Mower family returned to a house they are renovating across the street from the zoo. When their toddler, Pierce, ran out onto the porch, his mother followed and saw the venomous snake just feet away from her son.
"It's hard because I keep thinking about how close my child and I were to that snake," Marie Mower said today.
Zoo Atlanta staff noticed the female tiger rattlesnake was missing during a routine check late Friday but have said they believed it probably remained inside the building where it was caged. Because of the reptile's nocturnal nature and dislike of people, they said they believed that if it had exited the building it wouldn't likely be a significant danger to anyone.
The Mowers thought about calling animal control but were worried the snake would wriggle away and continue to lurk outside their house. Instead, Guy Mower grabbed an extra floorboard and used it to kill the snake, his wife said.
She said she wishes the zoo had done a better job of notifying neighbors.
"No alert or no signs could have prevented the snake from ending up on our porch, but if we'd known it was missing from the zoo, my husband might not have had to kill the snake," she said.
Marie Mower saw media reports about the missing snake late Sunday and called the zoo early Monday. A zoo staff member sent to the house immediately confirmed that it was the missing rattlesnake.
Zoo officials called the Mowers to apologize after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Tuesday that her son had found the snake, Mower said.
Zoo president and CEO Raymond King also issued a public apology Tuesday afternoon.
Zoo officials have said a staff member did not properly secure a door to the cage holding the snake, which had been confiscated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and was being housed temporarily at the zoo.
"As a result of this unfortunate event, we are re-evaluating our procedures and protocols regarding animal management and how we communicate to the public, our members, our guests and neighbors," King wrote. "We apologize to anyone who was unaware of the incident, and we regret any worry felt by our community."
An inspection team from Georgia's Department of Natural Resources will be sent to Zoo Atlanta in the next week or two to investigate the escape, which violates the zoo's state-issued permit to keep wild animals, DNR spokeswoman Lauren Curry said.
The inspection should take about a day and a letter containing the team's findings will be sent to the zoo within a week and will be made public.
Authorities have not decided whether the zoo will face any penalties, but they generally take into account a facility's history and the nature of the violation, Curry said. By law, state wildlife officials can impose a range of sanctions, ranging from a letter ordering a zoo to make improvements to seizing its animals, imposing a $1,000 fine per violation and revoking its permit for two years in an extreme case.
Georgia is home to six species of venomous snakes, according to the website of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife Resources Division. The tiger rattlesnake is not among them, but comes from the southwestern United States.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Atlanta Zoo Faces State Inspection After Snake Escape (Via HerpDigest)
Atlanta Zoo Faces State Inspection After Snake Escape (Tiger Cobra)
By Kate Brumback AP, 9/1/10
ATLANTA - Georgia wildlife officials plan to inspect an Atlanta zoo after a rattlesnake was able to escape and slither around a city neighborhood, where it was discovered by a 2-year-old boy.
After spending Saturday afternoon at the nearby park that surrounds Zoo Atlanta, the Mower family returned to a house they are renovating across the street from the zoo. When their toddler, Pierce, ran out onto the porch, his mother followed and saw the venomous snake just feet away from her son.
"It's hard because I keep thinking about how close my child and I were to that snake," Marie Mower said today.
Zoo Atlanta staff noticed the female tiger rattlesnake was missing during a routine check late Friday but have said they believed it probably remained inside the building where it was caged. Because of the reptile's nocturnal nature and dislike of people, they said they believed that if it had exited the building it wouldn't likely be a significant danger to anyone.
The Mowers thought about calling animal control but were worried the snake would wriggle away and continue to lurk outside their house. Instead, Guy Mower grabbed an extra floorboard and used it to kill the snake, his wife said.
She said she wishes the zoo had done a better job of notifying neighbors.
"No alert or no signs could have prevented the snake from ending up on our porch, but if we'd known it was missing from the zoo, my husband might not have had to kill the snake," she said.
Marie Mower saw media reports about the missing snake late Sunday and called the zoo early Monday. A zoo staff member sent to the house immediately confirmed that it was the missing rattlesnake.
Zoo officials called the Mowers to apologize after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Tuesday that her son had found the snake, Mower said.
Zoo president and CEO Raymond King also issued a public apology Tuesday afternoon.
Zoo officials have said a staff member did not properly secure a door to the cage holding the snake, which had been confiscated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and was being housed temporarily at the zoo.
"As a result of this unfortunate event, we are re-evaluating our procedures and protocols regarding animal management and how we communicate to the public, our members, our guests and neighbors," King wrote. "We apologize to anyone who was unaware of the incident, and we regret any worry felt by our community."
An inspection team from Georgia's Department of Natural Resources will be sent to Zoo Atlanta in the next week or two to investigate the escape, which violates the zoo's state-issued permit to keep wild animals, DNR spokeswoman Lauren Curry said.
The inspection should take about a day and a letter containing the team's findings will be sent to the zoo within a week and will be made public.
Authorities have not decided whether the zoo will face any penalties, but they generally take into account a facility's history and the nature of the violation, Curry said. By law, state wildlife officials can impose a range of sanctions, ranging from a letter ordering a zoo to make improvements to seizing its animals, imposing a $1,000 fine per violation and revoking its permit for two years in an extreme case.
Georgia is home to six species of venomous snakes, according to the website of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife Resources Division. The tiger rattlesnake is not among them, but comes from the southwestern United States.
_____________________________________________________________________________
By Kate Brumback AP, 9/1/10
ATLANTA - Georgia wildlife officials plan to inspect an Atlanta zoo after a rattlesnake was able to escape and slither around a city neighborhood, where it was discovered by a 2-year-old boy.
After spending Saturday afternoon at the nearby park that surrounds Zoo Atlanta, the Mower family returned to a house they are renovating across the street from the zoo. When their toddler, Pierce, ran out onto the porch, his mother followed and saw the venomous snake just feet away from her son.
"It's hard because I keep thinking about how close my child and I were to that snake," Marie Mower said today.
Zoo Atlanta staff noticed the female tiger rattlesnake was missing during a routine check late Friday but have said they believed it probably remained inside the building where it was caged. Because of the reptile's nocturnal nature and dislike of people, they said they believed that if it had exited the building it wouldn't likely be a significant danger to anyone.
The Mowers thought about calling animal control but were worried the snake would wriggle away and continue to lurk outside their house. Instead, Guy Mower grabbed an extra floorboard and used it to kill the snake, his wife said.
She said she wishes the zoo had done a better job of notifying neighbors.
"No alert or no signs could have prevented the snake from ending up on our porch, but if we'd known it was missing from the zoo, my husband might not have had to kill the snake," she said.
Marie Mower saw media reports about the missing snake late Sunday and called the zoo early Monday. A zoo staff member sent to the house immediately confirmed that it was the missing rattlesnake.
Zoo officials called the Mowers to apologize after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Tuesday that her son had found the snake, Mower said.
Zoo president and CEO Raymond King also issued a public apology Tuesday afternoon.
Zoo officials have said a staff member did not properly secure a door to the cage holding the snake, which had been confiscated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and was being housed temporarily at the zoo.
"As a result of this unfortunate event, we are re-evaluating our procedures and protocols regarding animal management and how we communicate to the public, our members, our guests and neighbors," King wrote. "We apologize to anyone who was unaware of the incident, and we regret any worry felt by our community."
An inspection team from Georgia's Department of Natural Resources will be sent to Zoo Atlanta in the next week or two to investigate the escape, which violates the zoo's state-issued permit to keep wild animals, DNR spokeswoman Lauren Curry said.
The inspection should take about a day and a letter containing the team's findings will be sent to the zoo within a week and will be made public.
Authorities have not decided whether the zoo will face any penalties, but they generally take into account a facility's history and the nature of the violation, Curry said. By law, state wildlife officials can impose a range of sanctions, ranging from a letter ordering a zoo to make improvements to seizing its animals, imposing a $1,000 fine per violation and revoking its permit for two years in an extreme case.
Georgia is home to six species of venomous snakes, according to the website of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife Resources Division. The tiger rattlesnake is not among them, but comes from the southwestern United States.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Rattlesnakes Sound Warning on Biodiversity and Habitat Fragmentation
ScienceDaily (Apr. 23, 2010) - Like the canary in the coal mine, the timber rattlesnake may be telling us something about the environment we share.
Cornell University researchers -- using cutting-edge tools including fine-scale molecular genetics and microsatellite markers -- tracked the rattlesnakes to understand how wildlife habitats are affected by even modest human encroachment.
"We used this species as a model to investigate general processes underlying population-level responses to habitat fragmentation," said the authors, led by Cornell post-doctoral researcher Rulon Clark, in the paper "Roads, Interrupted Dispersal and Genetic Diversity in Timber Rattlesnakes," currently available online and to be published in the journal Conservation Biology.
Researchers discovered that fragmentation of natural habitats by roads -- even smaller, low-traffic highways -- has had a significant effect over the past 80 years on genetic structure of timber rattlesnakes in four separate regions of upstate New York. Less genetic diversity means populations become more susceptible to illness or environmental changes that threaten their survival.
"Our study adds to a growing body of literature indicating that even anthropogenic habitat modifications that does not destroy a large amount of habitat can create significant barriers to gene flow," said researchers.
While the rattlesnakes shorter lifespan and method of travel may help make the impact of roadways relatively quick and dramatic, the new findings reinforce earlier work on other terrestrial animals -- from grizzly bears to frogs -- and provides a fresh warning about habitat fragmentation that all plans for future human development must consider.
Researchers used fine-scale molecular genetics as well as behavioral and ecological data to look at timber rattlesnakes from 19 different hibernacula -- shared wintering quarters -- in four regions in New York: the Adirondacks, Sterling Forest, Bear Mountain and Chemung County. In each case they used microsatellite markers to track how populations dispersed from their winter dens, their subsequent reproductive patterns, and how roads in these areas altered that gene flow. The roads themselves -- all paved roadways built in the late 1920s to early 19030s for motorized traffic -- were examined for use and relationship to natural barriers. Tissue samples were examined from more than 500 individual snakes.
"Over all four regions and 19 hibernacula, none of the genetic clusters . spanned either major or minor roads; hibernacula belonging to the same genetic deme were always on the same side of the road," the paper states. "This fine-scaled analysis, repeated over four geographic regions, underscores the significance of roads as barrier to dispersal and natural population processes for timber rattlesnakes and perhaps other species."
The research team also included Kelly Zamudio, Cornell University ecology and evolutionary biology professor; William Brown, professor of biology at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; and Randy Stechert, an environmental consultant for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Clark is currently an assistant professor at San Diego State University.
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the New York State Biodiversity Research Institute.
Cornell University researchers -- using cutting-edge tools including fine-scale molecular genetics and microsatellite markers -- tracked the rattlesnakes to understand how wildlife habitats are affected by even modest human encroachment.
"We used this species as a model to investigate general processes underlying population-level responses to habitat fragmentation," said the authors, led by Cornell post-doctoral researcher Rulon Clark, in the paper "Roads, Interrupted Dispersal and Genetic Diversity in Timber Rattlesnakes," currently available online and to be published in the journal Conservation Biology.
Researchers discovered that fragmentation of natural habitats by roads -- even smaller, low-traffic highways -- has had a significant effect over the past 80 years on genetic structure of timber rattlesnakes in four separate regions of upstate New York. Less genetic diversity means populations become more susceptible to illness or environmental changes that threaten their survival.
"Our study adds to a growing body of literature indicating that even anthropogenic habitat modifications that does not destroy a large amount of habitat can create significant barriers to gene flow," said researchers.
While the rattlesnakes shorter lifespan and method of travel may help make the impact of roadways relatively quick and dramatic, the new findings reinforce earlier work on other terrestrial animals -- from grizzly bears to frogs -- and provides a fresh warning about habitat fragmentation that all plans for future human development must consider.
Researchers used fine-scale molecular genetics as well as behavioral and ecological data to look at timber rattlesnakes from 19 different hibernacula -- shared wintering quarters -- in four regions in New York: the Adirondacks, Sterling Forest, Bear Mountain and Chemung County. In each case they used microsatellite markers to track how populations dispersed from their winter dens, their subsequent reproductive patterns, and how roads in these areas altered that gene flow. The roads themselves -- all paved roadways built in the late 1920s to early 19030s for motorized traffic -- were examined for use and relationship to natural barriers. Tissue samples were examined from more than 500 individual snakes.
"Over all four regions and 19 hibernacula, none of the genetic clusters . spanned either major or minor roads; hibernacula belonging to the same genetic deme were always on the same side of the road," the paper states. "This fine-scaled analysis, repeated over four geographic regions, underscores the significance of roads as barrier to dispersal and natural population processes for timber rattlesnakes and perhaps other species."
The research team also included Kelly Zamudio, Cornell University ecology and evolutionary biology professor; William Brown, professor of biology at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; and Randy Stechert, an environmental consultant for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Clark is currently an assistant professor at San Diego State University.
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the New York State Biodiversity Research Institute.
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