Increases in Capture Rates of an Aquatic Snake (Seminatrix pygaea) Using Naturally Baited Minnow Traps: Evidence for Aquatic Funnel Trapping as a Measure of Foraging Activity
Christopher T. Winne
University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken,
SC 29802, USA
Email: Winne@srel.edu
Abstract
The secretive nature of most snake species can hinder efforts to understand
aspects of their ecology and population biology unless systematic capture
techniques are employed and potential sampling biases are recognized (Parker
and Plummer 1987). For herpetofauna other than snakes (e.g., amphibians,
lizards, and turtles) numerous studies of collecting methods and sampling
regimes have resulted in standardized methods, with well-elucidated biases
(e.g., Dodd 1991; Dunham et al. 1994; Gibbons 1990; Heyer et al. 1994,
Willson and Dorcas 2004; Willson et al. 2005). Several collection techniques
have been used successfully for terrestrial snakes (reviewed in Fitch
1987, 1992), such as terrestrial drift fences with pitfall and funnel
traps (Gibbons and Semlitsch 1981), road cruising (Dodd et al. 1989; Mendelson
and Jennings 1992; Seigel and Pilgrim 2002), visual encounter surveys
(Sun et al. 2001), and artificial cover objects (Fitch 1992; Grant et
al. 1992). For capturing snakes in aquatic habitats most studies have
relied upon visual encounter surveys, opportunistic captures, or aquatic
funnel traps (Casazza et al. 2000; Gibbons and Dorcas 2004; Madsen and
Shine 2000; Seigel et al. 1995a; Seigel et al. 2000), but the effectiveness
and biases of these methods have seldom been examined experimentally (e.g.,
Willson et al. 2005).
SREL Reprint #2925
Winne, C. T. 2005. Increases in Capture Rates of an Aquatic Snake (Seminatrix pygaea) Using Naturally Baited Minnow Traps: Evidence for Aquatic Funnel Trapping as a Measure of Foraging Activity. Herpetological Review 36, 411-413.
