Hi, Phil.



Those are some great pix as usual. KY still looks pretty good. Our woods in n. MI are still looking nice, but hardly anything is moving unless you really dig. Still a few insects and frogs. All the leaves are on the ground though.



It’s an interesting problem thinking about what snakes are doing in winter, especially if they are never seen on the surface during the Dec-Feb months, or more. I believe, in areas where the ground never freezes, like s. AZ, there probably always is some kind of activity going on. However, in the north country, we have always seen the snakes as hibernating for 5 or 6 months. Although I’m rethinking what the snakes are doing down there, I think like you for the most part about the northernmost snakes. Let me quote a couple texts that relate to our situation here.



1. This first excerpt is from the paper, “Snake Thermal Ecology: The Causes and Consequences of Body-Temperature Variation”, by Charles R. Peterson, A. Ralph Gibson, and Michael E. Dorcas, from the book, Snakes: Ecology and Behavior, 1993, edited by Richard A. Siegel and Joseph T. Collins.



“Although many species of snakes spend a considerable amount of time hibernating, it has been difficult to obtain body temperatures from hibernating snakes because they are usually inaccessible underground. The use of radiotelemetry during the past 20 years has greatly improved our understanding of body-temperature variation in hibernating snakes. The general pattern of body temperature variation for hibernating snakes studied so far appears to be a gradual decline in body temperature from the fall into late winter and then a gradual increase in body temperature until spring emergence (Jacob and Painter, 1980; Gregory, 1982; Macartney et al., 1989; Weatherhead, 1989). For example, Crotalus viridis lutosus in the desert in southeastern Idaho entered hibernation during October and emerged in May. Mean body temperatures decreased from approximately 12*C in mid-November to a minimum of 6*C in late February and then increased to approximately 7.5*C by late April.” P. 277-78 with charts/graphs.



2. Another interesting piece of literature is the account of the common kingsnake, Lampropeltis getula, in the book, Amphibians and Reptiles of New Mexico, 1996, by Degenhardt, Painter, and Price. It includes these quotes…



“Annual activity in New Mexico extends from April to October with a peak in July.”



“Common kingsnakes probably hibernate below the frostline using rodent burrows, fractured rocky outcrops, or man-made structures such as foundations, wells, and cisterns, but no hibernaculum have been discovered in New Mexico.”



Although we don’t see any data here, and the authors use words like “probably”, I still think these authors are very experienced and know more than I do. I would think a lot of herpers reading about the herps of New Mexico would be of a similar mind. However, I also think that more research on winter acitvity would probably turn up some new twists to this question/answer. I don’t think there’s been enough research done on wintering snakes in the Southern states.



I especially like thinking about the common kingsnake, and when I was in s. Ohio, yrs. ago, I could only find them on the surface from about April to October, at the latest. Although the ground didn’t freeze, we did have quite low temperatures, like in the 30’s, in the winter. I think the black kings there were well adapted to the cold winters and had a long rest period with little activity, no eating, and low metabolism. Babies I worked with were very difficult to keep going past Sept/Oct. I think getula probably has a winter rest period in the southernmost part of its range also, but not as much obviously. It only goes to northern Mexico and is not a tropical snake. I doubt it needs to be active year ‘round to accomplish its life functions. And, yet, there is still the possibility it could be winter active. Some herpers think they are. It could be partially active underground, surfacing occasionally with appropriate conditions, and still be resting a lot of the time. I think the whole activity thing has a lot of potential for research.



TC



Here's a black king from s. Ohio, 2004...

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