Reptile & Amphibian Forums

over the summer i went herping almost every day on my families 7.5 acres of land in upstate new york. Not once did i find an eastern milksnake. Not in the early morning, not at night, not mid afternoon. I checked everywhere.Is there or has there been a decline in the eastern milksnake population??

Upstate NY is a known hotspot for eastern milks and NO they arent on the decline. Not knowing you or how you hunt,but strategically placing artificial cover or just adjusting the cover thats there for maximum effectiveness is an artform! You also may have to venture OFF your land to find a more suitable habitat....first you find 1,then more,then start to develop a sense for the time/place where they will be(no kidding).They spend ALOT of time underground so you have to maximize your efforts when you are likely to find them...not when its convenient for you.READ as much as you can about them,study habitats and interactions,note species encountered to see if they use similar habitats....DO the work.Good luck,Jeff

Thanks for your reply. The thing is i did read up alot online to figure out where the good places were to look. I spent hours online researching there habitats and the times they are most active. ive ventured off my land onto state land to find this snake. I only found two species of snake on ewas the garter snake the other is a northern brown snake. Where do you suggest me looking when the snow goes away???

If the proper microclimate isnt there they wont be either. It may be suitable habitat,but unless you manipulate it properly you wont find ANYTHING.I mean,if you cant even find lots of other snakes(besides milks)it tells me 1 of 2 things:either the habitat is totally wrong for snakes to begin with or you dont know what you are doing.
Try lots of things.Find out how close the nearest water source is.Use artificial cover along transition zones.Get out of state land and your backyard and find the BEST habitat to begin with! It is trial and error and I could help you more(alot of us could)but its just as important to find out when they arent there as when they ARE....only then will you understand why.Its hard work but the reward is more gratifying that way.Good luck,Jeff

Excellent post, Jeff.

The photo in my post is on our property in n. Michigan at about 45* N. latitude. Last summer we found several milksnakes under the cover there. There could be many reasons, but here's a few that I feel deserve noting.
1. 2003 was an excellent year for E. milksnakes. I found them to be abundant in good habitat.
2. The photo is of an area that is alongside a large rock pile and known hibernaculum. It is also surrounded by wet meadow and other grasslands that make good milksnake habitat. Not too far away is a swamp also which attracts all kinds of herps, along with three ponds.
3. A herp is also dependent on its prey. The milksnakes in this field have abundant prey with many types of rodents and, of course, many other reptiles.
[c][/c]

Moisture and humidity play a HUGE role in finding milks.That is part of experience...knowing what is too moist and what is too dry to even BOTHER to look.Jeff

>>Moisture and humidity play a HUGE role in finding milks.That is part of experience...knowing what is too moist and what is too dry to even BOTHER to look.Jeff

Another great point. Trade secrets here, eh? L. triangulum is basically adapted to surviving in semi-arid environments, BUT, in moist areas in that otherwise dry environment. On our property you won't find them in the swamp, or in standing water. You look for dry, open, grassland type areas, then look for something to turn. I turned a log once and found nothing in the dry soil, but inside the rotting log I found a nice milk. Ringnecks are like that too. Sometimes you can find milks and ringnecks in the same micro-habitat.

TC

Terry, we dont want EVERYONE to be able to find em do we? There are lots of other advanced techniques,just not something you care to let loose,Jeff

Jeff,
how are you?? I hope all is well. How are the kings doing? If this New England winter ever ends, we should go out herping this spring. -Milt

np

Wow, where in upstate NY are you. I found about 12 this summer. I kept this one little neonate but he escaped and i just keep finding his sheds.

KRis
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DON'T TREAD ON ME

wow it must be just me or the area im in. I am near central square/Brewerton area.(North of Syracuse) Where are you located??

Eastern milks are easy to find. My technique? Dont even look. Now that I think about it, every one I found was when I was with a girlfriend. I even caught a coastal milk in my ex gfs driveway in the middle of the afternoon. One quick observation-growing up I always read how vicious easterns were, but im yet to find one thats not docile. Is this the general rule, or an exception?