Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anybody know of a scientific study that show the correlation of snake deaths to damaging affects in the environment. I have to do a speech on why you should not kill snakes and how it hurts the environment. I would love any help that can be provided.
Thanks

Tsusnakeguy,
There wouldn't be any such studies because the random killing of snakes has no impact either on the species involved nor the environment. You can possibly visualize this point by realizing that hunting and killing deer during hunting season for by vehicles has any dire consequences on either the environment of deer populations.

You could make a case from a philosophical view that wasting a life without any legitimate purpose is immoral. That is akin to trophy hunting where some individuals have killed a gazelle, water buffalo, rhino, bear, simply for the rack, head, skin, etc and left the rest of the animal to waste.

Richard F. Hoyer

You could do some research on things like rattlesnake roundups and their impact on rattlesnake populations. Look for information on the effects of destroying hibernaculums and the use of gasoline to flush snakes out of burrows.

You could also look at the affect of road mortality on snake populations. Here's a link to a paper discussing road mortality and snakes: http://www.bio.usyd.edu.au/Shinelab/shine/reprints/218dangersofleaving.pdf (You can find tons of this type of paper using Google scholar http://scholar.google.com/ and typing in: snakes roads mortality)

You can also do searches on snakes as predatora of raodents. Here's pdf that towards the end talks about the role of snakes in controlling rodent populations in the crop fields of India: http://wildlifedamage.unl.edu/handbook/Chapters/pdf/egpch15.pdf

Hope this helps you some!
Alice

You can also prove the benefits of venom for humans, i.e. breaking up of blood clots. Search for snake venom and medical benefits.

Good Luck,
Clint

Hi snakeguy,

It is an important question, but unfortunately there isn't a lot of quantitative work on it. Here are a few related studies that you may find interesting.

Best,

Mike

Title: A PROFILE AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF ORGANIZED RATTLESNAKE HUNTS IN PENNSYLVANIA USA

Author(s): REINERT H K

Source: Journal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science 64 (3) : 136-144 1990

Language: ENGLISH

Abstract: Thirteen organized rattlesnake hunts were surveyed in Pennsylvania between 1985 and 1987. Data were collected from 139 timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) and 64 successful snake hunters. The sample of snakes included 90 males and 49 females of which 83.7% were pregnant. The mean total lengths of male and female snakes were 100.2 cm (S.E. = 1.87) and 83.9 cm (S.E. = 2.13), respectively. Visible injuries, ranging from minor skin lesions to death, were observed in 40 (28.8%) of the snakes examined. Injury rate was associated with capture methods. Capture by nooses and hooked sticks resulted in injury rates of 83.3% and 33.8%, respectively, while tongs resulted in only a 10.2% injury rate. Snakes were most frequently captured in habitats characterized as rocky (82.9% of capture locations) and open (63.0%). Most snakes were found exposed on the surface (81.5%). The remaining snakes were concealed under rocks and logs which were moved by hunters in their search for snakes. Snake hunters were typically males averaging 34 years of age (S.E. = 1.4) who regularly participated in snake hunting activity (both organized events and individual outings) for outdoor, summer recreation. The majority of snake hunt participants were classified as either general laborers (42.2%) or skilled laborers (31.3%). Most hunters (95.3%) reportedly released the snakes that they caught; however, snakes at organized hunts were not always released where they were originally captured. Only one hunter collected rattlesnakes for food. Snake hunters also regularly participated in other forms of recreational hunting (95.3% of respondants) and fishing (84.4%), and tended to limit their organizational affiliations to sportsmens clubs (45.3%) and reptile hunting clubs (35.9%). Organized snakes hunts were determined to be of limited value as a resource management tool and to have a negative impact upon individual rattlesnakes and rattlesnake populations. Prohibition or strict regulation of these events is recommended.

Address: REINERT H K; DEP BIOL, ALLENTOWN COLLEGE ST FRANCIS DE SALES, CENTER VALLEY, PA 18034, USA

Herp photo gallery

Title: The United States role in the international live reptile trade
Author(s): Hoover, Craig M.
Source: Amphibian and Reptile Conservation 2 (1) : 30-31 2000
Abstract: In the 1990's, the trade in live reptiles has grown substantially, and the United States (U.S.) is the world's most significant player in the international trade in live reptiles, both as an importer of exotic species, and as an exporter of native and exotic species. In 1995, more than 2.5 million reptiles were imported into the U.S., primarily to supply the pet trade. In 1996, over 9.5 million reptiles were exported or reexported from the U.S., primarily to Europe and Asia, to supply the demand for reptiles as pets and food. Despite the large and apparently growing number of reptiles and amphibians in trade, we have yet to quantify the impacts of this trade on the conservation of these species in the wild.
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Title: Collectors endanger Australia's most threatened snake, the broad-headed snake Hoplocephalus bungaroides.
Author(s): Webb, Jonathan K. (-); Brook, Barry W.; Shine, Richard
Source: Oryx 36 (2) : 170-181 April 2002
Abstract: The collection of reptiles for the pet trade is often cited as a potential problem for threatened species, but quantitative data on the effects of this trade on wild populations are lacking. In south-eastern Australia the decline of the threatened broad-headed snake Hoplocephalus bungaroides has been blamed on habitat destruction and the collection of snakes for pets, but there was little evidence to support the latter hypothesis. During 1992-2000 we studied one of the last extant southern populations of broad-headed snakes in Morton National Park, New South Wales, where less than 600 individuals remain on an isolated plateau. Analysis of 9 years of mark-recapture data reveal that the activities of snake collectors seriously endanger the viability of this species. The study population of H. bungaroides was stable over 1992-1996, but declined dramatically in 1997, coincident with evidence of illegal collecting, possibly stimulated by a government amnesty that allowed pet owners to obtain permits for illegally held reptiles. Survivorship analyses revealed that 85% of adult females disappeared from the population in 1997. There was no such effect on male survivorship, suggesting that snake collectors selectively removed adult females, which are the largest snakes in the population. Humans caused significant damage to fragile rock outcrops in three of the 9 years of the study, and a second bout of habitat disturbance in 1999 coincided with a second decline in the H. bungaroides population. We recommend that locked gates be placed on fire trails to protect existing populations of broad-headed snakes.
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Title: Challenges in evaluating the impact of the trade in amphibians and reptiles on wild populations

Author(s): Schlaepfer, Martin A. (-); Hoover, Craig; Dodd, C. Kenneth Jr

Source: Bioscience 55 (3) : 256-264 March 2005

Language: English Medium: print

Abstract: Amphibians and reptiles are taken from the wild and sold commercially as food, pets, and traditional medicines. The overcollecting of some species highlights the need to assess the trade and ensure that it is not contributing to declines in wild populations. Unlike most countries, the United States tracks the imports and exports of all amphibians and reptiles. Records from 1998 to 2002 reveal a US trade of several million wild-caught amphibians and reptiles each year, although many shipments are not recorded at the species level. The magnitude and content of the global commercial trade carries even greater unknowns. The absence of accurate trade and biological information for most species makes it difficult to establish whether current take levels are sustainable. The void of information also implies that population declines due to overcollecting could be going undetected. Policy changes to acquire baseline biological information and ensure a sustainable trade are urgently needed.

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Title: Effects of destructive collecting practices on reptiles: A field experiment

Author(s): Goode, Matthew J.; Swann, Don E.; Schwalbe, Cecil R.

Source: Journal of Wildlife Management 68 (2) : 429-434 April 2004

Language: English Medium: print

Abstract: A basic tenet of wildlife management is that acceptable harvest methods should have little impact oil populations other than eliminating or reducing the number of surplus individuals. We evaluated whether collectors who use destructive methods to harvest individual animals threaten reptile populations in Arizona, USA. Destructive methods usually involve permanent damage to cracks and crevices in rock outcrops that provide moist, cool shelter sites for reptiles. We surveyed 80 rock outcrops in an area slated for development. We treated half oh the rock outcrops by imitating the activities of collectors using pry bars to overturn rocks and break open cracks, and we then resurveyed the rock outcrops. Multivariate repeated-measures analysis revealed that damaged rock outcrops support fewer reptiles than undamaged outcrops. We also observed species, sex, age-class, and seasonal effects due to treatment. To combat the growing problem of habitat destruction from reptile harvest, we recommend protection of rock outcrops and education of reptile collectors.

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Title: Long-term shifts in snake populations: A California site revisited

Author(s): Sullivan, Brian K.

Source: Biological Conservation 94 (3) : 321-325 July, 2000

Language: English Medium: print

Abstract: The distribution and abundance of snakes along a transect across an ecotone from an oak woodland-chaparral mosaic to a more arid grassland in north-central California was surveyed. Of 11 taxa documented in the 1970s, 10 were observed in the 1990s; only Tantilla planiceps, a rare form in the 1970s, was absent in the 1990s. Nine of the 11 taxa were similar in abundance across sampling periods. Juvenile Pituophis catenifer and Crotalus viridis increased dramatically in the 1990s; adult Pituophis catenifer declined, whereas adult Crotalus viridis increased. Analysis of these two taxa indicated that abundance along the transect was approximately similar in the 1970s and 1990s; snakes were most abundant in the ecotone. Snake abundance was similar for the 1970s and 1990s in spite of increased road traffic, continued off-road vehicle use and sheep and cattle grazing, and collecting for the pet-trade. Additional study will be necessary to assess the apparent stability of this snake community.
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