May 8th 2015, 10:45 AM, Burlington County, NJ

Dedicated exclusively to field herping.

Moderator: Scott Waters

Post Reply
ackee
Posts: 39
Joined: March 18th, 2015, 8:06 pm

May 8th 2015, 10:45 AM, Burlington County, NJ

Post by ackee »

Taken with a little Canon S95 point and shoot. This 4 ft. long Pine Snake was quietly sunning itself until I convinced it to move into the brush. There were 4 Verizon cable installation trucks moving up and down this secondary road with quite a few houses nearby.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/o74oha9tcazbs ... 2.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pmy4u7sncm9bm ... 1.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/78xkc2pp6tcpg ... 3.jpg?dl=0
MCHerper
Posts: 443
Joined: September 22nd, 2012, 6:13 pm

Re: May 8th 2015, 10:45 AM, Burlington County, NJ

Post by MCHerper »

Beautiful! Lucky you for spotting him!
User avatar
Lt.Mike
Posts: 231
Joined: June 10th, 2010, 2:12 am
Location: Lower Monmouth County NJ

Re: May 8th 2015, 10:45 AM, Burlington County, NJ

Post by Lt.Mike »

Blacktop is this animals downfall. We had a thriving population in central NJ back until the '70s. It was easy to find them until the state built I-195 running from the shore to Trenton. 4 lanes for an active mobile snake to cross and I have to believe this specific roadway is responsible for this populations demise as it had an immediate impact.
They didn't just drop off here after I-195 opened, they're gone.
Such a shame for a beautiful snake.
You may notice the pockets of them that are left are not adjacent to any heavily traveled highways.
ackee
Posts: 39
Joined: March 18th, 2015, 8:06 pm

Re: May 8th 2015, 10:45 AM, Burlington County, NJ

Post by ackee »

Not just Pine Snakes. This same secondary road and a number of others in this general area were once King Snake hot spots, on humid mornings and in early evening. This was in the 70s and 80s. Increased traffic from a number of sources, mostly new recreational users, resulted in a slaughter. I lived in the area back then and saw the carnage almost every day. Kings at night, Pines during the day, the occasional Coastal Plains Milk, at least one Scarlet Snake I remember vividly.

Dropping water tables and greatly increased automobile traffic have created a disaster down here. The reduction in the number of frogs has affected the number of water snakes, which has in turn reduced the number of King Snakes. Even the clean up and prettification of state forests has reduced the rodent density. I seldom see Deer Mice in the numbers that existed in the 60s, and 70s. Fence Swifts are not nearly as common as they once were. People are everywhere.

Toads seem less vulnerable, so the population of Hognosed snakes has, if anything, increased. There seem to be as many Timber rattlers as ever.

Spotted Turtles, once ubiquitous, have become rare. I suspect wildlife thieves are largely responsible.

I was an active herper until the 80s, when I moved away from this area. Having retired recently I've resumed my favorite activity. I have the perspective of seeing differences clearly with a sharp contrast. The changes are disheartening.
Post Reply