hey guys/gals

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muskiemagnet
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hey guys/gals

Post by muskiemagnet »

ok, so i've been nominated as conservation officer. i've been thinking about this lately and i will throw out some basics as to what i envision. this is a work in progress so anyone who wants to be on board is welcome to give input at any time.

as of now, there is a very serious problem facing us. SFD. unfortunately not much is known about this and it could potentially have the capability to wipe out small populations of snakes as well as(worst case) cause extinctions. i will be working on the wisconsin end. i meet with the folks at the DNR on monday to discuss what is to be done here in wisconsin. this work is being done via a whole bunch of federal money and the head state in the project is massachusetts. most of the states in the midwest are not part of this however. all i can urge you all to do is to familiarize yourselves with what it looks like and keep an eye out for it. if you suspect an animal, contact your DNR as soon as you can. if legal, collect the animal and submit it to the proper folks.

i feel we can be a big asset to our states by alerting them to any problems as we find them. i also encourage all to disinfect gear and boots when traveling between sites. for those who do, awesome.

i'd also like to know what projects any of you are working on in your respective states. we can all bounce ideas off each other and learn in the process. wisconsin is in a time where they want to utilize citizen science as a tool to help them do what they need to do. this is a great thing. we help them and they help us. on the bright side, if legislation needs to be passed, it may be hard for them to say "no, they are just snakes" when a bunch of tax-paying citizens are standing up.

anyhow, feel free to comment on whatever topic related to this as you feel. for those who want to get involved in something bigger i encourage you to do so. you may be surprised as to how far you can go.

-ben
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muskiemagnet
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Re: hey guys/gals

Post by muskiemagnet »

really????? no one is doing anything in the midwest that relates to conservation??????? you guys are killing me. thought that there would be some who are involved or want to get involved.

okay, just go look at pretty pictures then.

-ben
ChadHarrison
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Re: hey guys/gals

Post by ChadHarrison »

I am not currently a part of any projects, so I can't help you there. I have one seen one snake so far that could be a candidate.

This is an Osage Copperhead afflicted with, what appears to be, a severe fungal infection.
Image

If you guys need any help, do let me know. I'm all for doing what I can to help out our MW critters.

- Chad
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justinm
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Re: hey guys/gals

Post by justinm »

muskiemagnet wrote:really????? no one is doing anything in the midwest that relates to conservation??????? you guys are killing me. thought that there would be some who are involved or want to get involved.

okay, just go look at pretty pictures then.

-ben

Ben,

Psyon and I are working with the State Herpetologists of Illinois. We are going to create a web site for logging finds and to help with ID'ing herps. I'm also working on getting approval to create a state wide herp club dedicated to Field Herping. The hope is to get access to some pieces of private land for the sake of expanding our knowledge of the herps of Illinois. The KHS (Kansas Herp Society) has this same model and is very successful with their surveys. I will let everyone know as this all progresses. With the backing of the State it will add legitimacy to the group and hopefully open doors with private land owners.
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Antonsrkn
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Re: hey guys/gals

Post by Antonsrkn »

i will be working on the wisconsin end. i meet with the folks at the DNR on monday to discuss what is to be done here in wisconsin.
So what conclusions were reached?
okay, just go look at pretty pictures then.
lol, don't need to tell me twice.
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muskiemagnet
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Re: hey guys/gals

Post by muskiemagnet »

justin- that's cool to hear. keep me posted as to how that keeps playing out. illinois is part of this sfd work especially because their saugas are being hit. i've spoken to don about this and if you don't already know, he can point you to the project lead in illinois. any other field work will be useful in finding new locations with the disease and i'm sure the states would be appreciative to gain this info.

chad- as mentioned to justin, monitoring is a key element in understanding how this spreads from location to location, if indeed it actually spreads. it could be that the fungus is present but environmental factors are just right for it to affect the animals in the way it is. that picture sure looks like a prime candidate for sfd. i would find out who is in charge of herps in the state that you found that snake and pass on the information. they may not care but at least you tried. if you have a problem finding the right person to talk to i might be able to help. pm me if you need to.

anton- no conclusions were reached really. i was just part of the meeting that was intended to start finalizing wisconsin's approach to testing and long-term monitoring. i have not had a chance to ask too many questions regarding what is known of this disease. i hope the folks in the know are prepared for my assault on their brains when i actually get in the field with them. :D :D :D i will certainly keep everyone posted as to what i learn. right now the plan is to go to a bunch of sites and capture/test for the fungus/disease. most of the sites will not be monitored. the dnr just wants to know if the disease is present. all we need is one snake to test positive. the focus is rattlesnakes but sgcn(species of greatest conservation need) snakes are secondary but equally important in determining the presence at locations. two locations will be utilized for long-term monitoring. it is still up in the air as to the extent of the monitoring goes. as of now i believe all captured snakes will be tested if it is determined they need to be. pit tags will be inserted and i'm hoping it works out to paint the rattles. this will help me with my project. i was planning on the spring of 2015 but i may have to do it earlier. there also may be the desire to insert radio transmitters in the future.


to all- from my reading of the proposal of this project, this fungus affects snakes in different ways. most are affected only skin deep while a few populations are worse off in that the fungus goes deeper and destroys muscle and bone. there may be different strains involved. i don't really know/understand just yet. trust me. i will irritate them with my questions. i do believe we all can help to understand the size of the area affected. i urge you all to familiarize yourselves with what this disease looks like. take plenty of photos if possible and submit your findings to the state in which they were found. they may be interested. i will look into how involved the feds are in this. even though specific states may not care too much, the feds might. i'll look into it. i have another idea as to how we can compile data on this but i have to talk to someone about it first.

i'll keep you all posted. as of now i am being very general. i'm not sure at this point what i can share. i'm hoping at some point to post links to paperwork and such so you all can read up on it. i have to get permission first though. my intent is to inform everyone as to what we are dealing with. we may be the first line of defense for many states just for the fact that we are out there all the time and they are not.

one last thing. we are going to follow strict protocols as to disinfecting equipment. i'll post our protocols as soon as i can but i urge all of you to disinfect boots and other equipment with a 9-1 bleach solution for about fifteen minutes if possible. do this between sites. also, if you handle a snake and then another it may potentially transfer. more insitu would be best.

-ben
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justinm
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Re: hey guys/gals

Post by justinm »

Ben,

I've been working and discussing my goals with Dr. Mike Dreslik who is an Illinois state herpetologist and responsible for focusing most of his energy on the remaining Massassauga's in the state. We're buds.
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muskiemagnet
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Re: hey guys/gals

Post by muskiemagnet »

justinm wrote:Ben,

I've been working and discussing my goals with Dr. Mike Dreslik who is an Illinois state herpetologist and responsible for focusing most of his energy on the remaining Massassauga's in the state. We're buds.

keep me posted on the developments of those saugas. we will be going to survey ours this spring. i hope to God we do not find sfd.

-ben
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James Condon
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Re: hey guys/gals

Post by James Condon »

Jeff Lorch from USGS did a webinar presentation in February
It's a good overview for anyone that wants to get up to speed on SFD
It is available here, second down on the menu, "Snake Fungal Disease"
http://nctc.fws.gov/topic/online-traini ... ience.html
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muskiemagnet
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Re: hey guys/gals

Post by muskiemagnet »

james, PM sent.

-ben
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muskiemagnet
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Re: hey guys/gals

Post by muskiemagnet »

ok, what have you all been up to in regards to anything conservation-minded?

i've been examining and PIT tagging rattlesnakes and other protected snake species with dr. josh kapfer. he found a big bull that he tagged in 2005. very cool. old snake. this project is to evaluate SFD.

saturday i'll be helping the DNR do some ornate survey work with some turtle dogs. it should be fun.

-ben
juicebox
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Re: hey guys/gals

Post by juicebox »

Hi Ben, I think you will have a great time with the turtle dogs. I saved an article from a local paper about turtle dogs recently. Seems a single dog could round up more Ornate Box turtles in one hour than a whole team of humans could. I would love to have a dog like that in the field trained to sniff out anything I'm lookin for. Maybe they could be trained to sniff out Timbers Lol.

-troy
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muskiemagnet
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Re: hey guys/gals

Post by muskiemagnet »

hi troy. lol

nice of you to show yourself.

-ben
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Fundad
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Re: hey guys/gals

Post by Fundad »

Good Thinking Ben.. :thumb:

Keep up the good work. I am sure we might be able to add something in HERP for those entered that have the fungus.

Fundad
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Chris Smith
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Re: hey guys/gals

Post by Chris Smith »

MN DNR is PIT tagging timbers as part of the SFD project. We are also continuing our long-term mark-recapture project with bullsnakes and plains hog-nosed snakes in central MN, and are collecting samples (some have tested positive). We are also doing more telemetry with plains hog-nosed snakes (we have taken biopsies from some of our study snakes).

-Chris
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muskiemagnet
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Re: hey guys/gals

Post by muskiemagnet »

chris, two of the four sites i was at tested positive. both of which are "long-term" sites. you guys are testing for SFD? is this coming out of the states' budget? wisconsin got in on the tail-end of the federal money. did MN get some of this as well? didn't see MN listed in the giant PDF of the study.

-ben
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jonathan
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Re: hey guys/gals

Post by jonathan »

Good thread Ben. Were there any updates?
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muskiemagnet
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Re: hey guys/gals

Post by muskiemagnet »

jonathan wrote:Good thread Ben. Were there any updates?
yes.

all sites(6) tested for the fungus. these are all timber sites. as of now, no active disease was found(minimal to no loss). outbreaks were not noted as compared to the fox snakes we found in my area.

the fungus was not found in the few massasauga populations. yaaaaaaaaaay.

i will keep all posted as i get the information.

-ben
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