Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone,

You all probably know by now that I have been very sad about my neighborhood brown snake populations for quite some time now...

Well, I had been searching in desperation to find any survirors for weeks, and yestaerday, my efforts payed off. In an old railyard, I uncovered a pair. One looks to be about 2 years old, and the other maybe a year old. The 1-year-old is missing its tail. They are really amazing little brown snakes. It was such a thrill for me to uncover these neat little snakes after all of this time. It is really a thrill to find a little ring coiled neatly underneath a piece of surface debris, breathing so rhythmically.
I took both snakes home, as it was very hot that day. There has been a drought here. I offered them some cool water, fed them some little slugs and worms, and am enjoying their presence. I will keep them a few more days, and then release them back where I found them before my trip to Maine.
Yay! DeKay's always amaze me.
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DAVE

1.0 Western green toad
1.1 green treefrogs
1.0 Florida blue garter snake
1.1 Oriental fire-bellied toads
1.0 American bullfrog
0.1 Spanish ribbed newt
0.0.1 Eastern ribbon snake
1.1 red-cheeked mud turtles
0.1 Dubia day gecko
1.0 Sonoran gopher snake
0.1 rough green snakes
1.1 giant African black millipedes
1.0 Okeetee corn snake
0.1 Albino African clawed frog
1.0 Kenyan sand boa
0.0.1 Argentine flame-bellied toadlet
0.0.1 African bullfrog
1.0 yellow * Everglades rat snake intergrade
1.1 Western hognose snakes
1.2 fire salamanders
1.0 scarlet kingsnake
0.0.1 Argentine horned frog
0.1 Southern ringneck snakes
1.0 Florida scarletsnake
0.0.1 Florida brown snake
0.0.1 Northern brown snake
0.0.1 Smooth earth snake
0.0.2 Western worm snakes
"And tons of garters and ribbons are being born in the reptile room this very minute..."

Nice, i just discoverd 7 in my yard and havent seen any in along time. And all of them were adult midlands. Im aslo starting to see a few ringneck snakes.

Amazing!

I believe that the West Nile Virus scare a few years back caused many Americans to use much more pesticide than they normally had been using, even in habitats that not that many people ever entered. For a long time, I was seeing a huge local decrease in the number of little snails and slugs in those old railyards. Now that I have realized the problem, I can try to locally raise more public awareness about it.
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DAVE

1.0 Western green toad
1.1 green treefrogs
1.0 Florida blue garter snake
1.1 Oriental fire-bellied toads
1.0 American bullfrog
0.1 Spanish ribbed newt
0.0.1 Eastern ribbon snake
1.1 red-cheeked mud turtles
0.1 Dubia day gecko
1.0 Sonoran gopher snake
0.1 rough green snakes
1.1 giant African black millipedes
1.0 Okeetee corn snake
0.1 Albino African clawed frog
1.0 Kenyan sand boa
0.0.1 Argentine flame-bellied toadlet
0.0.1 African bullfrog
1.0 yellow * Everglades rat snake intergrade
1.1 Western hognose snakes
1.2 fire salamanders
1.0 scarlet kingsnake
0.0.1 Argentine horned frog
0.1 Southern ringneck snakes
1.0 Florida scarletsnake
0.0.1 Florida brown snake
0.0.1 Northern brown snake
0.0.1 Smooth earth snake
0.0.2 Western worm snakes
"And tons of garters and ribbons are being born in the reptile room this very minute..."

I remember about 10 years ago I noticed the population of dekayi starting to plummet around here. (Southwestern CT). I used to find them with the same regularity of Thamnophis s. sirtalis, and I always enjoyed finding one perfectly camouflaged within the leaf litter. Then one day they were all gone. I don't know what happened, but the general habitat was not disturbed much. Anyways, i'm glad you found that pair. Perhaps they will re-populate the area someday.

Hi,

That's truly amazing! Your story is almost identical to mine. I also commonly found them just as often as the garters. Just like you said... one day they were all gone. Anyway, I am glad that whatever did it is dissapearing. The fact that I found a young baby shows that there are more babies nearby, as well as a mother. Anyway, it is sad, but hopefully it will clear up. I am glad that you share my love for the brown nakes. The camouflage amazes me as well. Tiny treasures coiled neatly in the smallest indentations beneath surface debris... breathing so rhythmically, so delicate yet so adaptabe.
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DAVE

1.0 Western green toad
1.1 green treefrogs
1.0 Florida blue garter snake
1.1 Oriental fire-bellied toads
1.0 American bullfrog
0.1 Spanish ribbed newt
0.0.1 Eastern ribbon snake
1.1 red-cheeked mud turtles
0.1 Dubia day gecko
1.0 Sonoran gopher snake
0.1 rough green snakes
1.1 giant African black millipedes
1.0 Okeetee corn snake
0.1 Albino African clawed frog
1.0 Kenyan sand boa
0.0.1 Argentine flame-bellied toadlet
0.0.1 African bullfrog
1.0 yellow * Everglades rat snake intergrade
1.1 Western hognose snakes
1.2 fire salamanders
1.0 scarlet kingsnake
0.0.1 Argentine horned frog
0.1 Southern ringneck snakes
1.0 Florida scarletsnake
0.0.1 Florida brown snake
0.0.1 Northern brown snake
0.0.1 Smooth earth snake
0.0.2 Western worm snakes
"And tons of garters and ribbons are being born in the reptile room this very minute..."

Ive had the same problems with eastern garter snakes,northern ringnecks and eastern worms but this year was a great year for all. i only found 2 rings though. What sounds weird is that the most common snake here ( alabama) is the black rat snake, but black racers are becoming scarece not joke, and corns that is another srory lol, at least i know i will always see water snakes and black rats lol..