First snakes 2013

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mikez
Posts: 201
Joined: October 3rd, 2010, 6:43 am
Location: north central Ma

First snakes 2013

Post by mikez »

Trouble with this time of year, you're dependent on the weather if you can only get out on the weekend. My six year old boy, Jed, is a snake hunting fanatic and begs me to take him pretty much year round. Saturday was out as we had his little brother staying with us. He's got issues that keep him from being able to hike or walk on rough terrain. That left us with one shot, today. The day started sunny but well below freezing. My on board thermometer in my truck said 32F at noon time. Soon after haze and scattered clouds settled in with a brisk northwest wind. Not very promising snake hunting weather for mid-march in central Massachusetts. Frankly, without the pesty kid begging me, I'd have stayed home.
Luckily, I know a reliable den site where northern watersnakes and garters tend to emerge a bit early. A steep hillside and favorable sun exposure create a microclimate that provides shelter and warmth. A few early risers can almost always be found if there's at least a bit of sun. We often find snakes there in the first week of March and again as late as Thanksgiving and beyond come fall. In March, the first snakes emerge while snow covers the far side of the hill and the swamp is still covered in ice.
Today, after we slipped and slid down the steep hill to the edge of the swamp at the bottom, Jeddie spotted the first critters. He saw a couple frogs in the clear water. Unfortunately, they were dead.

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That's when I noticed a small beaver dam had raised the level of a small branch of the swamp enough to connect to a nearby pond. Apparently a bunch of small bass, catfish and at least a half dozen green frogs settled into the small shallow basin behind the mini-dam only to be winterkilled when the shallow water froze to the bottom.

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The snake den abuts the water's edge just off screen in the lower left of the above pic. The water level in the den itself must have been raised maybe a foot. I don't believe that hurt the snakes as I'm sure they already were hibernating below the water level. Many dens I've found were clearly under water and I've had captive snakes choose deep water dishes to brumate in.
Sure enough, exactly where I expected to see one, a large watersnake was basking at the entrance of the den.

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I picked up the large snake and it actually was warm to the touch despite the brisk breeze and weak sunshine. Still, it was torpid enough for Jeddie to handle despite being a bit shy of bigger snakes.

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The snake was pretty raggedy looking and in need of her first shed. Probably up for the first time. You can get a feel for the steep hillside behind Jed's left shoulder and just see a bit of the rock slide which contains the den on his right. Taking the pic, I'm standing at the very edge of the swamp behind me.

A few feet away I spotted a freshly shed large garter that was very warmed up and escaped underground before I could get a pic. While examining the spot where the snake disappeared, I spotted this larger garter.

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The edge of the swamp is a foot out of the frame above the snake and just visible in the upper right is the base of a tree inundated by the raised water level. The flooded root ball of the tree was where the first garter went underground and the second was heading for.

I coaxed Jeddie to pose with the large specimen by promising him a pack of gum. ;) I'm quite pleased with the result. It was well worth a pack of gum. :thumb: You can see the extensive frozen marsh that spreads out from the base of the hill.

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I wanted to take more habitat shots as well as show the deep snow on the north side of the hill. Unfortunately my old, abused POS P&S camera chose that moment to go belly up. Not a bad way to go I guess. :)
MCHerper
Posts: 443
Joined: September 22nd, 2012, 6:13 pm

Re: First snakes 2013

Post by MCHerper »

Awesome Mike! I have a 5 year old who loves snakes as well, I'm hoping to have a lucky year as far as finding them is concerned.

Do you mind sharing which county/state?
mikez
Posts: 201
Joined: October 3rd, 2010, 6:43 am
Location: north central Ma

Re: First snakes 2013

Post by mikez »

yes, meant to say, middlesex county Ma. 3/17/13
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Jeffreyrichard
Posts: 322
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 6:49 am
Location: Rhode Island

Re: First snakes 2013

Post by Jeffreyrichard »

Nice ... :P
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ZantiMissKnit
Posts: 1037
Joined: September 14th, 2012, 9:43 am
Location: Boston area, MA

Re: First snakes 2013

Post by ZantiMissKnit »

I found my first two snakes of 2013 on Saturday morning, 3/16, around 11 a.m. and 32 degrees. The first one was dead, but the second one was alive, but pretty cold:

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Garter snake at 32 degrees!!! by ZantiMissKnit, on Flickr

Suffolk County, MA
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brick911
Posts: 3488
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:52 am
Location: Morrisville, PA

Re: First snakes 2013

Post by brick911 »

Mike,
Great narrative to give us a feel for the area. Thanks!
Bob
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pete
Posts: 745
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 7:11 pm
Location: cape cod ma.

Re: First snakes 2013

Post by pete »

Outstanding! :beer:
I'm jealous!
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Duggles
Posts: 37
Joined: February 18th, 2011, 4:09 pm

Re: First snakes 2013

Post by Duggles »

I normally hear peepers behind my house by now, but things are definitely starting slow this year. Congrats on finding a few . . .
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