Study

Restoration of an extirpated red-sided garter snake Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis population in the interlake region of Manitoba, Canada

  • Published source details Macmillan S. (1995) Restoration of an extirpated red-sided garter snake Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis population in the interlake region of Manitoba, Canada. Biological Conservation, 72, 13-16.

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

Action Category

Translocate adult or juvenile reptiles: Snakes

Action Link
Reptile Conservation
  1. Translocate adult or juvenile reptiles: Snakes

    A study in 1985–1988 at a hibernaculum in a limestone sinkhole in Manitoba, Canada (Macmillan 1995) found that around 12% of translocated red-sided garter snakes Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis were recaptured after one winter and none were recaptured at the donor site. After one winter, 84 of 720 translocated snakes (12%) were recaptured at the hibernaculum. One translocated snake was recaptured during the following autumn and spring, but sampling was disrupted by commercial snake harvesters. None of the 720 translocated snakes were recaptured at the donor site. The authors reported that three years after the translocation the population consisted of around 800 snakes, 427 if which were new captures. The hibernaculum had been uninhabited since heavy flooding in 1974. In September–October 1985, a total of 720 snakes (451 males, 269 females) were collected at a hibernation site and released at an empty hibernaculum 55 km away. All translocated snakes were individually marked by ventral scale clipping. Snakes were collected periodically at both sites in spring and autumn 1986, spring 1987 and spring 1988 (sampling methods not reported).

    (Summarised by: Amos Bouskila)

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