Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Wes Note: Dear Herp Law readers: I hope you'll indulge a bit of a mis-post here - but after reading about the problems that my Texas peers seem to be having with new restrictions on 'road-herping' (however non-invasive) ... I'm perplexed that certain authorities are more concerned with the potential of herper interaction with local species than the very real attrition suffered by the species to road activity - deliberate and non-deliberate. I'm in no way a environmental law expert, but I'm doubtful that the proposed regulations - as this Canadian reads them - will in any significant way protect Texas herps alongside roads. I wonder what the ratio of road-kill-to-'incidental take'/casualties from road-side photography is?
respectfully, Wes

WINDSOR STAR (Ontario) 03 August 07 Are you a reptile killer?; Some drivers go out of their way to hit them, study finds (Sharon Hill)
All that roadkill isn't just accidental -- an Ontario study has found almost three per cent of drivers, the majority of them men, swerve to intentionally steamroll snakes and turtles on the road.
The study by three Ontario researchers published in the May edition of the Human Dimensions of Wildlife journal found that some drivers ran over reptiles on purpose on a road near Long Point.
This doesn't mean that 2.7 per cent of roadkill is intentionally hit. It means 2.7 per cent of drivers who see reptiles on the road go out of their way to run them over.
"Two point seven per cent of the people out there is a lot and especially when those 2.7 per cent of people probably do it often or whenever they get the chance," Scott Petrie, one the researchers, said Thursday.
The study could be the first to show reptile roadkill isn't just accidental, said Petrie, research director of the Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Fund.
The study was conducted in 2005, led by Paul Ashley, a biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service. Petrie said Ashley has calculated that the causeway from Port Rowan to Long Point, between two wetlands, is the fifth-deadliest road for turtles in the world.
To test Ashley's suspicions that some of the roadkill was no mistake, the researchers alternated between placing a plastic turtle, a rubber snake, a white cup and a grease control line on the centre of the road.
The grease line helped researchers know how many drivers passed over the centre line by mistake.
Cars following close behind other cars weren't counted in case drivers couldn't see the objects. The researchers used data from more than 1,900 vehicles.
The fake snake fared the worst. "Apparently there were some people that sped up and rode the centre line to run over the snake," Petrie said.
The journal article said "drivers were 2.4 times more likely to hit the snake than the control and 1.9 times more likely to hit the snake than the cup."
For the turtle, drivers were 1.7 times more likely to hit it than the control and 1.4 times more likely to hit the turtle than the cup.
Men were more likely than female drivers to hit any of the objects on the road. "Probably testosterone, I don't know," said Petrie.
Some drivers tried to rescue what looked like an Eastern fox snake and a small snapping turtle before realizing they were fakes.
Petrie said he was disappointed that some people who stopped really just wanted to pick up the reptiles and take them home.
Drivers may run over wildlife for kicks and others may think they're doing everyone a favour by killing a snake since they aren't well liked, he said. But reptile roadkills are a problem because reptiles are declining, and turtles, unlike raccoons, take longer to become sexually mature, meaning they're killed on the road before they can reproduce.
"There's lots of rare and endangered reptile species in the province, so you never know what you're running over and you shouldn't run over anything."
Drivers should watch the road and slow down to avoid hitting wildlife. He suggests being very careful if you try to get the reptile across the road and always send the reptile in the direction it was headed.
The study suggests not building roads between prime reptile habitat or building underpasses or barriers to keep snakes and turtles off the pavement.

(Paperboy Note: For those of you that were unable to make the 20-20 March 07 Roads & Ecopassages Symposium hosted by the Toronto Zoo, there was a truly excellent presentation by the study group. The study procedures, controls and anecdotes gave you an real feeling why some people seem to go out of their way to hit herps – with young males being involved in the majority of incidents. The best of the stories were those involving how to calm the herp-saving public after they got out of their cars onto a road to save … a rubber snake! www.torontozoo.com/AdoptAPond/BlandingsEcopassages.asp)
Are you a reptile killer?; Some drivers go out of their way to hit them

that is what happens when you get crooks in TPW and the Legislator working together.

It's pretty clear that TPW broke the lobby law www.ethics.state.tx.us/guides/LOBBY guide.htm and Hilderbran exorcised inappropriate and unethical if not illegal methods to pass the legislation.

Hilderbrans little "power play" might make enough embarassment and controversy in court (for him and TPWD) for him to lose any chance for TPWD director. If he was long shot before- he's got no chance now. Even w/ the amended HB 2414 in place he would have been a problem later. Maybe this still has a way of working out.

Texas has such great natural/outdoor resources- probably best in the country-and it would be embarassing to have a director w/ ties to exotic hunting (like we need to import game in this state?) and seemingly unethical methods head up our agency.

I hope the hire some straight shooter (no pun intended) with decades of HONEST public service.

I think what HH did was"exercise" (sorry Joe, couldn't resist....)

Joe wrote "...and Hilderbran exorcised inappropriate and unethical if not illegal methods to pass the legislation."

and I saw it after I posted it. Freudian slip I suppose. But funny none the less.

Don't sweat it-look at the4 misspellings in my post above. I don't spell well when I'm ticked off....

Brad Chambers

Wes:
I've had TPWD enforcement officers tellme straight out that they have intentionally run over snakes on the road. This merely reinforces the opinion I've had for years that they really don't care about the animals. I remember one time when I found a horned owl by the side of the road; it was alive and feisty but had been injured and could not fly. I drove into Langtry where I found a TPWD officer checking the licences of a group of herpers. I asked him to follow me, took him 4-5 miles east to where the owl was and he asked me "What do you want me to do about it?" I told him it was a protected animal in need of help and rehabilitation. He told me that he would come by the next day and if it was still there he would call it in for a biologist to come check out.
Makes you glad to know your dollars are going to the right people.