Posted by:
Rich G.cascabel
at Wed Nov 9 09:46:26 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Rich G.cascabel ]
I know we can probably beat this to death but here goes...
First I think you guys have some assumptions about the temps at which snakes can function that are off. For example my local Az. Black rattlesnakes may not feed, but they certainly move, shed and even breed at the temps cited above for wintering lutosus. The local milks we have here in northern Az. are moving, feeding and breeding at temps in the mid- fifties (which is why everybody thinks they are so rare, they go home before the milks even come out because they think it is too cold). As I stated in an earlier post, my captive pyros move, drink and shed at temps in the thirties, same for my Az. milks. I can keep them in the thirties all winter and they are no more torpid than at any other time of year. They are alert and cognizant of me and what I am doing while I check on them. How can one say with any certainty what snakes are doing in the winter if one cannot actually see them? And finding a couple of garters imobile under a rock at thirty degrees F speaks for only those particular garters, not the population as a whole. As Frank asked "where are the rest of the members of the local population, and what are they doing?" And why are these few snakes found near the surface during the winter there in the first place when we are all in agreement that temps down lower are probably considerably warmer that at the surface? From 40 years of keeping snakes in captivity and observing them in the wild I do know for fact that snakes that are sick during the winter, or those who had a bad foraging season will seek colder areas to conserve resources. Well fed healthy snakes will seek warmer places and be considerably more active.
Telemetry may be great for following/locating snakes and giving temp readings but it cannot tell what those snakes are doing if you cannot see them. My winter conditions here in Flag most certainly compare with those in Michigan or Wisconsin or New York. Except for the rocky parts of the den itself which melt off, the area around the dens are packed with ca.~three feet of snow for the duration of the winter (which makes hiking in with pack and telemetry equipement a real PITA). Our telemetered cerbs do indeed go to their respective dens, and the signal says they are they are not going anywhere, but what are they doing down there? I cannot make any assumptions without seeing them. For all I know it could be like a party at the Playboy mansion! I do know I find them breeding at temps in the 40's and 50's when they emerge in spring. So why couldn't they be breeding all winter down in the grotto? We did place some I-buttons which record body temps at standard intervals in some snakes this year so in the future I will be able to provide some accurate winter body temps for these guys. I think everybody is too bound by old schools of thought as to what reptiles do. Heck, during the winter here in Flag, my wife is freezing and stays indoors where it is warm. My brother in law likes it cold and will be out and about all winter but in summer he can't bring himself to crawl out from under the air conditioner. I'm out in all conditions. But because my wife says indoors all winter does not mean we can make tha tassumption for teh human population as a whole.
FWI Terry, getula are definately surface active during the winter in Az. I fact my cousin and I found one crawling along in a shaded portion of Pima canyon last January at about 0900 hrs. Ambient temp was right around 50F. Well, ..I'm off to bed
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couple thoughts..... - Rich G.cascabel, Wed Nov 9 09:46:26 2005