The Member Magazine of The Orianne Society Issue 1 • Spring 2013 Indigomagazine our giant Serpent of the southeast The Orianne Society’s Efforts to Conserve Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Populations Also in this issue: Travelers Backwoods of the The Complexity Blackwater Snake of Conserving Canoeing Georgia’s The Eastern Suwannee River World Indigo Snake photo: Pete Oxford Pete photo: Indigomagazine 14 Our Giant Serpent of the Southeast The Orianne Society’s Efforts to Conserve Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Populations photo: Pete Oxford Pete photo: Herper 6 Events 44 Field 46 Spotlight Calendar Photos Two young herp Our events calendar If you like us on Facebook enthusiasts share their has a wide selection of you know that we get great passion for snakes and snake and reptile focused photos submitted to us snake conservation. The events from around the daily. We pulled together future is bright for the country. Find an event some of our favorites in our field of Herpetology. near you. Field Photos. Too bad we didn’t have room for more. 2 ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG SPRING ISSUE 2013 Indigomagazine Reminiscences of 8a Snake Hunter Dirk Stevenson reflects on a lifetime of snake hunting, from boyhood excursions to his work as a biologist. staff Christopher L. Jenkins CEO What’s the Frederick B. Antonio Director of OCIC 31Frequency, Betty? Wayne O. Taylor Director of Land Management Using radio telemetry to track Indigos Stephen F. Spear Director of Amphibian with The Orianne Society in Central Conservation Florida. Heidi L. Hall Director of Communications Dirk Stevenson Director of Inventory and Monitoring Javan M. Bauder Assistant Conservation Scientist Backwoods, Patrick Barnhart Indigo Snake Technician 40Blackwater Sue Bottoms Administrative Assistant Canoeing the blackwater of the Polly Conrad Communication Specialist - Suwannee River. Individuals and Foundations Kevin Croom Communication Specialist - Memberships Andy Day Seasonal Field Tech Mike Jackson Communication Specialist Karen McLain Accountant Jerry Medlock Accounting Assistant Courtney Torregrosa Vet Tech/Herp Tech photo: Lance Paden photo: contributorscontributors Gabriel J. Diaz “What’s the Frequency, Betty?” Chris Hartmann “Backwoods, Blackwater” issueissue Indigo Magazine Issue 1, Spring 2013 Travelers of the Indigo Magazine is the member magazine of The Orianne Society and is produced, Snake world 26 designed and edited by the staff of The The Complexity of Conserving The Orianne Society. Eastern Indigo Snake ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG SPRING ISSUE 2013 3 Indigomagazine SPECIES SPOTLIGHT: 5.8 FEET LONG Louisiana Length of the Pine snake largest reported Pituophis ruthveni specimen. A typical adult is four to five feet long. 3-5 SNAKES PER CLUTCH The smallest clutch size of any North photo: Fred Antonio Fred photo: American colubrid. The Louisiana Pine Snake is a large non-venomous constrictor of the A low fecundity Colubridae family. It is an elusive snake that spends much of its time magnifies threats. underground in Pocket Gopher burrows (60% of the time according to one study), upon which it depends for on shelter. The Louisiana Pine Snake faces many of the same threats that other snake species face-- mainly habitat loss, fragmentaiton and degradation, but also human persecution. Unfortunately, the Pine Snake has the smallest clutch size of any North American colubrid 34% which contributes to low recruitment. This makes it difficult for populations to recover quickly from events that impact large swaths of OF KNOWN local populations, thereby magnifying threats. HISTORICAL The path to conserving snakes, such a the Louisiana Pine Snake, is one of the hardest paths traveled. They aren’t warm and fuzzy, most LOCALITIES people don’t want to cuddle them, and there are a great number of are currently people who are apt to end their existence with a shovel, venomous or suitable to sustain otherwise, and not think twice about it. But the bottom line is, we need viable pine snake these animals. Not only do they have a right to exist, but without them, populations, some of our most cherished ecosystems would cease to function. according to habitat source: http://www.fws.gov/southwest/clearlakees/PDF/PINESNAKE.pdf assessments. 4 ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG SPRING ISSUE 2013 Indigomagazine Our greatest accomplishments are ahead and we are embarking on perhaps one of the greatest: transitioning The Orianne Society from a family foundation focused on rare snakes in the southeastern United States, to a public charity focused on the conservation of rare reptiles and amphibians around the world. Successfully navigating this transi- message from tion and creating a goal driven sustainable organization that is making a real difference Dr. Chris jenkins for conservation is the greatest legacy that I CEO, The Orianne Society could ever hope to achieve. We cannot turn our conservation goals into reality nor create a sustainable organization without the dedicated support of our mem- bers. It is a great honor to give back to you as a member by sending you the first edition of what will become a long-standing tradition in the conservation of reptiles and amphibians, the Indigo. The Indigo is a publication that highlights all the great research, conserva- tion, and education work of ours and of our partners. For this first edition, we decided it was important to keep to our roots and focus the first volume on the reptile and amphib- ian rich southeastern United States. But stay tuned for future themes that will range from regional focused conservation efforts to top- ics in conservation from around the world. I will finish by thanking you, our members, for making everything we do possible. I hope these pages fill you with inspiration to do photo: Pete Oxford Pete photo: more for reptile and amphibian conservation as your membership has inspired us to keep As I sit here at my desk reviewing some of the conservation going forward. If we are to achieve the lofty accomplishments Orianne has achieved since our incep- goal of creating a paradigm shift in conser- tion, I realize what a special time this is. We are celebrating our five vation, where reptiles and amphibians are year anniversary – five years of working towards our goal of reptile considered equal to all plants and animals, and amphibian conservation. I feel we have achieved so much. We it will take every one of us. Use this inspira- have protected some of the most critical habitat for rare reptiles in tion as an opportunity to be part of this new Georgia, reestablished Indigo Snakes in Alabama, designated the paradigm and support reptile and amphibian first series of Priority Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Areas, conservation today. helped transition rattlesnake roundups to wildlife friendly festivals, and answered many questions in the ecology of rare reptiles and amphibians. I also realize that there is so much more to do. ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG SPRING ISSUE 2013 5 Indigomagazine Herp spotlights took positions as a field techni- cian and intern for field-based jobs. He spent time working as a sea turtle technician in North Carolina and the Florida Gulf. These experiences gave him a strong hands-on exposure to the conservation aspects of her- petology. There he also got in- volved with research projects Eric that led to his first two journal publications. Eric then worked as a rattlesnake technician for Nordberg a wildlife consulting company. While applying to graduate schools, Eric took another re- search technician position at the Savannah River Ecology Lab in South Carolina and assisted on a predator-prey project investi- gating the interactions between nesting songbirds and snakes. BRIGHT In 2011, Eric entered the biology M.S. program at Middle Tennes- see State University (MTSU). Here he initiated research exam- ining the ecology of Timber Rat- tlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) From an early age, Eric immersed himself in nature through hiking, in Middle Tennessee. Eric stud- camping, and enjoying the outdoors. Years later, his passion for wildlife ied a population of rattlesnakes has not diminished; in fact it has grown stronger as he now pursues a ca- found in a small nature preserve reer in Biology with efforts to conserve and understand the natural world. located within five miles from a large developing city. The pre- Eric grew up in State College, Pennsylvania, and attended Pennsylva- serve is completely surrounded nia State University to earn his B.S. degree in Wildlife and Fisheries by agricultural and rural private Science in 2010. While attending Penn State, Eric studied a multitude land. Unfortunately, this is not of topics, though his interests quickly focused on herpetology as he a unique situation for the Tim- 6 ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG SPRING ISSUE 2013 Indigomagazine ber Rattlesnake in Tennessee and Kelsie other parts of its range as develop- ment and human encroachment drives them into islands of remain- Kincaid ing wilderness. During the summer months, Eric uses radio telemetry to monitor these snakes to determine their movement patterns and habi- tat use. The rattlesnakes have been documented to navigate far from the preserve and into habitats that sometimes provide little distance between them and humans. Dur- ing winter, Eric continues his stud- ies addressing questions regarding the thermoregulatory behavior in My name is Kelsie Kincaid. I am twelve years old and I live in hibernating Timber Rattlesnakes. South Georgia. I’ve been herping since I was age three. I current- As global climate temperatures ly have three snakes, a Children’s Python, an Albino Corn Snake gradually increase, Eric antici- and a Banded King Snake. I also have six Red-eared Sliders. pates his research will be signifi- cant for better understanding the I first became interested in herping at an event called The Steve role that hibernation and the avail- Scruggs Wildlife Program. He allowed me to hold several snakes ability of thermally-suitable hiber- and I instantly became hooked.