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Focus: Alberta’s -at-Risk Yellow-bellied Racer

By Nigel Douglas

hen is an endangered spe- AWA hopes the 2014 discoveries of hi- Eastern yellow-bellied racers are one of cies not an endangered bernacula – overwintering grounds – for 11 sub-species of the Eastern racer, Col- W species? A called yellow-bellied racers near Onefour in uber constrictor, all of which are endem- the yellow-bellied racer is so rare in Al- southeastern Alberta will open a new and ic to (occurring only in) berta – you could count the number of more optimistic chapter in the recovery (the closely-related western yellow-bel- confirmed records on the fingers of two of this fascinating . In 2013, AWA lied racer occurs in British Columbia). hands – that in the past it has fallen be- reacted swiftly to the news that the feder- They are thin-bodied and active , tween the cracks of provincial endan- al government was proposing to close the growing up to 1.5 metres in length. The gered species protection. A search for Onefour Research Station in southeastern yellow belly is only found in adults. They the yellow-bellied racer on the website Alberta (a small proportion of the research are an olive-green colour on the upper for Alberta Environment and Sustainable station is on federal land, but most of it part of their bodies with, as the name Resource Development (ESRD) did not sits on provincial land leased to the federal suggests, a noticeable yellow belly. Juve- even acknowledge that the species occurs government). AWA called at the time for niles are quite different, being pale tan or in Alberta. It currently has no official sta- full legislated protection for the Onefour cream, with brownish blotches. As the tus – endangered, threatened or secure Research Station and the recent discover- name suggests also, racers are fast-mov- for example – in the province. ies can only strengthen these calls. ing snakes and, as researchers know to their cost, if cornered they are quite pre- pared to bite and to fight back. Yellow-bellied racers eat small , and amphibians as well as such as crickets and grasshoppers. Giv- en the chance they will even eat juvenile snakes of other species. Despite the sci- entific name constrictor, yellow-bellied racers are not true constrictors; they are more likely to hold prey in their mouths and use one or two coils of the body to hold it in place until they can swallow it whole. Eastern yellow-bellied racers inhabit mixed-grass prairie . During the winter, they hibernate in tra- ditional hibernacula; south-facing slopes are preferred, usually in rock piles and crevices, or in burrows belonging to mammals or other snakes. According to COSEWIC in 2004 (the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in ), eastern yellow-bel- Yellow-bellied Racer. PHOTO: © C. WALLIS lied racers are widely, if sparsely, distribut-

22 WLA | April 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 2 | FEATURES ed across northern North America “from threats to racers or their habitat can be ef- within National Park and the Maine to southern British Columbia, fectively avoided or mitigated through: AAFC Val Marie Community Pasture in south to the Florida Keys and northern (1) the use of management and steward- southwestern Saskatchewan; it remains .” In Canada they are restricted ship actions to protect habitat; unclear if there are plans to designate crit- to south central Saskatchewan and now (2) education, research and monitoring ical habitat around the newly-identified southeastern Alberta. The 2010 Parks to support conservation and manage- hibernacula in southern Alberta. There Canada report, Recovery Strategy for the ment decisions; certainly should be. The opportunity is Eastern Yellow-bellied Racer (Coluber (3) public outreach and awareness pro- clearly there for both federal and provin- constrictor flaviventris) in Canada lists grams; and cial governments to step up to the plate just four confirmed and one probable re- (4) cooperative approaches to agricultur- and ensure that habitat for these threat- cord in Alberta between 1975 and 2010. al, industrial and other anthropogen- ened – and indeed for 22 other In an exciting development, in October ic development.” federally-listed species at risk which are 2014 Alberta government biologists sur- There are, however, some serious short- found at Onefour Research Station – is veying for reptiles on a ranch in southeast- comings in the recovery strategy. Disap- protected forever. ern Alberta found a yellow-bellied racer pointingly, the population and distribu- hibernaculum. Seven sightings of the spe- tion objective for eastern yellow-bellied Quick Facts: cies were eventually made over the next racers is “to maintain the species’ distri- • Eastern yellow-bellied racer, few weeks. bution within Canada,” with apparently Coluber constrictor flaviventris The 2010 recovery strategy notes that no intention to increase its range. Like • Federal status: Threatened the primary threats to the species include any endangered species recovery strate- (Saskatchewan) “habitat loss due to human activities, gy, recovery is dependent on the identi- • Provincial status: Not yet listed small population size, road mortality, and fication and protection of critical habitat. • Length: up to 1.5 metres human disturbance of hibernacula.” It Critical habitat is defined in the strategy (60 inches) also points out that there are a number of as “seven currently used hibernacula and • Surprising fact: Female yellow- information gaps in what we know about the immediate adjacent areas within a 500 bellied racers are slightly larger the distribution and behaviour of racers. metre radius of those hibernacula.” All of than males. The strategy recognizes that the primary the identified areas of critical habitat are

WLA | April 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 2 | FEATURES 23A