[Durham INC] I want your snakes!

Thu Apr 30 09:02:36 EDT 2015

-----Original Message-----
From: Debra Hawkins [mailto:dhawkins913311 at gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2015 8:49 AM
To: 'Ed Harrison'
Subject: RE: [Durham INC] I want your snakes!

We've had a couple big fat copperheads park themselves right at our front doorstep and brick path. And a Northgate neighbor was bitten and badly injured in the leg by one a few years back. I have seen other smaller ones in other folks' yards. We seem to have a good bit of activity along our wildlife corridor here in NGP. 

D on G'wood

-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Harrison [mailto:ed.harrison at mindspring.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2015 11:45 PM
Cc: INC list (for posting); Debra A Hawkins
Subject: Re: [Durham INC] I want your snakes!

As one who’s been tracked NC Natural Heritage Program “element locations” in Durham County for over 30 years, I fully believe that copperheads are not the only poisonous snake in the immediate area, but there are no recent collections to confirm the known population of timber rattlesnakes on the City of Durham land at Lake Michie. The species is hard to miss if you encounter it. I've talked with a City Parks and Rec employee who had the interesting task of removing one from warm ashes in a fireplace at Spruce Pine Lodge before a wedding party. I doubt that there are cottonmouths (water moccasins) occurring *naturally* any closer to Durham County than Robertson’s Pond in eastern Wake County. Their thick bodies make it difficult for cottonmouths to move up streams at the Fall Line, because there is water dropping down (small) falls. (That’s as simply as I can put it).

I would be very surprised to find a timber rattlesnake in the middle of Durham. They really avoid human contact in the Eastern US. Lake Michie’s lands have been publicly owned for almost 90 years, and there are parts of the property where very few have gone in that long a time. 

In terms of the request from Ron Grunwald, folks who are vexed by copperheads really need to take him on his offer. Copperheads live and thrive in whatever happens to be the best habitat for them, and in my experience that is as likely to be in Trinity Park (for one example) as in the Eno River State Park (for another example). Most of the copperheads I’ve ever encountered were on trails in the State Park, especially when working there on a daily basis as a Park Naturalist deep in the previous century.

Ed Harrison

> On Apr 28, 2015, at 10:35 PM, Debra Hawkins <dhawkins913311 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Good share - tho btw, one bit is incorrect. We do also get timber 
> rattlers in the area, this is part of their range, and one was even 
> spotted on a path in Northgate recently. So they are out there.
> 
> A data card I got from PAC2 also notes this and that Cottomouths are
> *scarce* in the Piedmont, but not completely unknown. 
> 
> Deb (the ex-herpetologist)
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: INC-list [mailto:inc-list-bounces at lists.deltaforce.net] On 
> Behalf Of Will Wilson
> Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2015 5:30 PM
> To: inc-list at lists.deltaforce.net
> Subject: [Durham INC] Fwd: I want your snakes!
> 
> Please send to your lists!
> 
> 
> -------- Forwarded Message --------
> Subject: I want your snakes!
> Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2015 17:23:33 -0400
> From: Ron Grunwald <ron.grunwald at duke.edu>
> To: whhna-list at rtpnet.org Listserve <whhna-list at rtpnet.org>
> CC: owdna at yahoogroups.com, Ecwa <ECWA_List at yahoogroups.com>, 
> triangle at crittercontroltriangle.com, biology at duke.edu
> 
> Hello Friends & Neighbors,
> 
> It's that time of year again. If you find a snake in your garden or 
> yard, please send me a note or give me a call. I'd like to borrow some 
> native snakes for education and outreach programs for the North 
> Carolina Herpetological Society.
> 
> Best if you can call me when you actually see a snake. I'll be happy 
> to pick it up and return it to your yard. Or, if you prefer, relocate 
> it elsewhere.
> 
> If you need to identify a snake, you'll find this guide useful: 
> http://www.herpsofnc.org/herps_of_NC/snakes/snakes.html.  If you feel 
> comfortable about it, you can place the snake in a bucket or plastic 
> container (with a good lid) for safe keeping. But if you're not sure, 
> best to leave it alone and give me a call!
> 
> Note that there's only one venomous snake in our area, the copperhead, 
> but they can be common in some of our neighborhoods. Pictures and more 
> info here:
> http://bio.davidson.edu/herpcons/herps_of_NC/snakes/Agkcon/Agk_con.html. 
> A live copperhead is a particularly helpful part of our education 
> efforts, so I'd be happy to pick up yours, if you have one!
> 
> Many thanks,
> Ron
> 919-801-6862
> 2410 Par Place
> 
> ps. Please forward to other Durham neighborhood listservs.Thanks!
> 
> Ron Grunwald
> ron.grunwald at duke.edu
> http://ncherps.org
> 
> 
> 
> 
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