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Reptiles in gardens news release: |
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Jim Foster Member Joined: 24 Jul 2003 No. of posts: 19  View other posts by Jim Foster |
Posted: 14 Aug 2003 We put the following news release out this week to try to generate some positive media coverage of snakes and lizards, and particularly to encourage sympathetic garden management, discourage persecution, and help with identification. So far there has been some take up, mainly in local newspapers. To go to our press page, the URL is: http://www.english-nature.org.uk/news/story.asp?ID=506 Jim Foster.
Jim Foster. Reptile & amphibian specialist, Natural England. |
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Jim Foster Member Joined: 24 Jul 2003 No. of posts: 19 View other posts by Jim Foster |
Posted: 14 Aug 2003 As a follow-up to the last message, you may wish to see the BBC's sympathetic, well-linked coverage of the story at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3144451.stm Jim Jim Foster. Reptile & amphibian specialist, Natural England. |
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Wolfgang Wuster Senior Member Joined: 23 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 326 View other posts by Wolfgang Wuster |
Posted: 14 Aug 2003 Nice work on the leaflet. I am curious about the BBC's statement that reptiles delight int he heatwave. I recall reading a paper by Saint Girons documenting very high mortality in vipers after the heatwave of 1976 -apparently the prolonged extensive heat seemed to advance the body clocksof the snakes, which showed typical pre-hibernationbehaviour much earlier than normal. Mortality was very high, and exceptionally so among post-partum females. One has to hope that these observations (based mostly on a captive, open air colony) are not an omen of things to come as a result of this years' summer. Cheers, Wolfgang Wolfgang Wüster School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor http://sbsweb.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/ |
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Jim Foster Member Joined: 24 Jul 2003 No. of posts: 19 View other posts by Jim Foster |
Posted: 15 Aug 2003 Yes, not sure that "delighting" is quite the term I'd use! It's actually quite difficult to generalise about how reptiles will have fared in the recent hot spell. There's some evidence that reptiles become less active when it gets very hot (certainly with slow-worms I've noticed that a hot, dry spell seems to drive down sightings during monitoring visits). But as a few others have said elsewhere on this site, reptiles have been found out and about in the last couple of weeks - even under extremely hot tins! I also think the species will react quite differently according to their thermal ecology. Certainly for snakes the typical basking behaviour normally more evident in, say, May would be less common (or occur much earlier and later in the day) when ambient temps are so high. One might propose too that hatching/birth will be earlier this year, given the excellent opportunities for incubation. I do hope the mortality Wolfgang mentions does not arise, especially as hotter summers may be on the cards if you believe some predictions; will try to look out for signs of this at some of the sites being monitored. Wolfgang - are there any particular signs to watch out for? Our point in the press release was that people are outdoors more, and reptiles are fairly active (often zipping through gardens), so we get a peak of calls from concerned members of the public in July-August in most years. Obviously any reptile surveyor will tell you this a bad time to do proper surveys, but that's not what we were saying. I thought it best not to get into the science in this instance, and cut to the positive messages about habitat management, identification, etc. Jim Foster. Reptile & amphibian specialist, Natural England. |
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Alan Hyde Senior Member Joined: 17 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 1416 View other posts by Alan Hyde |
Posted: 15 Aug 2003 Hi Jim , Wolfgang. I've still been out and about during this heat , and although i've not seen any snakes slow worm numbers still seem pretty much the same to me. Yesterday for example, I saw 7 adult and 2 sub adult under one sheet of heavy duty plastic. Alan O-> O+> |
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Wolfgang Wuster Senior Member Joined: 23 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 326 View other posts by Wolfgang Wuster |
Posted: 15 Aug 2003 Jim, Here is the reference to the paper: Saint Girons, H. (1981) Cycle annuel er survie de quelques viperes d'Europe. Influence des temperatures exceptionnellement elevees de l'annee 1976 (Yearly cycle and survival in some European vipers. Influence of the exceptionally high temperatures of the year 1976). Vie et Milieu 31 (1): 59-64. His observations were based on specimens kept in outdoor enclosures, and fed ad lib. Basically, the signs were: early birth (early August rather than late August), early cessation of feeding in males (mid July rather than early September) and non-reprod females, early second shed for reproductive females, and greatly increased tendency for abnormal mid-winter excursions, accompanied by death during hibernation. Of his captive viper specimens, 100% of females that reproduced in 1976 died during the subsequent winter. He also observed reduced population sizes in neighbouring wild populations, although since the comparison was between 1974 and 1977, it is unclear whether the main loss occurred in 1976. The high mortality was despite the fact that his captive vipers fed more frequently and absorbed more food that year than normally. The author's interpretation was that the endogenous cycles of the snakes were accelerated by the high temps, early birth and high food intake, and that the asynchrony between endogenous cycles and climatic conditions led to the increased mortality. However, the survivors behaved normally the following year. I'm sure Tony will be in a good position to tell us whether this summer is having similar effects on his populations. If we do get high mortality after this summer, then that would indeed be worrying, considering current climatic trends and forecasts. Cheers, Wolfgang Wolfgang Wüster School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor http://sbsweb.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/ |
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Alan Hyde Senior Member Joined: 17 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 1416 View other posts by Alan Hyde |
Posted: 15 Aug 2003 Yes but, wasn't there a rise in snake numbers and large specimins in the early eighties? Seemed that way in Surrey and Middlesex Alan O-> O+> |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090  View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 15 Aug 2003 Only a minor observation and I'm sure Tony will add more, but on Jims point about changing behaviour with the weather; I was watching a single female for a few days this year. This is at my dry bracken site where it is possible to hear snake activity and very effectively know if the animals on the move or not. Cool days were taken up mostly basking as might be expected. Warmer overcast she would bask then disappear for a forage and be back for another bask at the same spot in a fairly predictable cycle. On the only really hot day I was watching her, she wasn't out basking at 8.00am and I began to think she wouldn't be active. At 1330 she returned by her usual route from foraging, but instead of basking retired to her bracken pile and remained hidden for the rest of the day. This suggests to me that for this individual hot days result in a single early and extended forage followed by rest, whereas on cooler days she was more easily observed following a basking routine. This in my mind fits well with the fact that the general public have more snake encounters in hot weather when they are more likely to be in areas where snakes are found, yet herpetologists encounter them less often as we usually rely on their basking habits for observations. I wonder if this fits with others more extensive observations? Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
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Tony Phelps Forum Specialist Joined: 09 Mar 2003 No. of posts: 575 View other posts by Tony Phelps |
Posted: 16 Aug 2003 Well now; The hot weather has affected patterns of behaviour with regard to berus and austriaca. But firstly let me say let us not get too surprised by the number of adder callouts, bites, and other problems. Studland for example has been like a human version of an ant colony these past few weeks, many people camping overnight(illegally). I have also heard that Martin Noble has 'rescued' a few adders from campsites in the NF. So, more people more problems. I have had a few interesting observations during the last few days. I have been out on the 14th 15th and today. On one sites I found all but one of my gravid female berus, (8) one was postpartum and found two neonates nearby, one actually shedding, so birth was very recent. On same site found three out of six breeding female austriaca all still very gravid plus six males and two imm males. Also hatchling agilis (3). Then on to Corfe castle site, which was very intersting. Here the breeding females show pronounced gregarious behaviour, and often see up to five together. However found two some 50m away from usual spot and this was actually on hibernation bank, this was on the 14th and both females were still gravid and had clay adhering to the body indication that they had been sitting out the hot weather. Just as suprising was adult male same place with clay on body, he should have been 200m away. So there seems to be sense of 'home is safe', if I can put it that way. I weighed him up (70g) and this is 15% above his emergence weight this year, he was in good shape. Very little under tins (150 over four sites) just the odd fragilis. Just two female sand lizards, no viv lizards and most surprising over three days no natrix. I would just add that during 1976 for same sites never had any real sightings intil early sept and all was well during 77 with no noticeable reduction in numbers of any particular species. Some of you may also recall that the winter of 76/77 was very severe and several villages in Purbeck, including mine, wer snowed in for a week. Tony |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 17 Aug 2003 Tony, I'm interested that you have observed adders with clay adhering as I was beginning to think that snakes sitting out hot weather was a bit of a myth, from road kills and chance meetings with them in blistering hot weather. Will adders congregate towards the end of the season at the hibernacula? I'm still not 100% positive where it is at Hindhead and would like to locate it. Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
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Tony Phelps Forum Specialist Joined: 09 Mar 2003 No. of posts: 575 View other posts by Tony Phelps |
Posted: 17 Aug 2003 Hi Gemma You don't get aggregations of berus in autumn as you do in spring, return to the hibernating areas is more erratic and many snakes are still in the summer areas in early Oct! But then again it only takes a short while to reach the winter area on most sites. I don't know if my observations about adders sitting out the hot weather is absolutely conclusive, but I feel it is likely and probably varies from site to site area to area. During the hot weather I did find one male adder and immature under hot tin, and also two smooth snakes. Tony |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 17 Aug 2003 Thanks Tony I will have to wait for the spring then! I'm confident that it's not near the winter task, as this is in the damp valley floor, gravid females this year suggest somewhere on the bracken slope. Been a bit side-tracked from Hindhead for last few weeks looking for a historical Kent population that still remains elusive. I've noticed some striking similarities between the sites from aerial photographs and looking at the topography, has anyone published material on a "typical" woodland/meadow adder site? Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
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calumma Senior Member Joined: 27 Jun 2003 No. of posts: 351 View other posts by calumma |
Posted: 17 Aug 2003 Gemma, If you are looking for a historical Kent population ask the county recorder! You may be interested to know that KRAG will be launching a new project 'Adders in Decline' at this years SE Regional HGBI Conference. I have spent the last several weeks chasing up many of the old records and I now have a reasonable idea of where most of the Kent sub-populations are located. I am just about to post details about the conference... Lee Brady Kent Herpetofauna Recorder | Independent Ecological Consultant |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 17 Aug 2003 Hi Lee, I'll drop you an e-mail about this site Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
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- Reptiles in gardens news release |
