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NORFOLK, Va. -- The canebrake rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) has been adopted as a mascot by Naval Support Activity Northwest Annex.
Canebrake rattlesnakes are the subject of one of the longest running (started in 1995) snake radio telemetry studies in the country and NSA Northwest Annex has helped in that study by giving the scientists funding and vital access to the base.
"The Navy has always endeavored to be good stewards of the environment, and the canebrake success story at Northwest Annex is no different," said Cmdr. Phillip Bachand, officer in charge Naval Support Activity Norfolk, Northwest Annex. "Helping to preserve the canebrake rattlesnakes was a no-brainer and has helped to cement our already good relationship with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The snakes have become so much a part of the history of the base, we have adopted them as part of the base logo."
The canebrake rattlesnakes are the largest venomous snakes in Virginia reaching a total length of approximately four feet. Once considered a subspecies of the timber rattlesnake, recent studies have shown that the canebrake and timber rattlesnakes are the same species. However, the southeastern population of the timber rattlesnake is considered to be distinct and is often referred to as the canebrake. The canebrake was listed as Virginia state endangered in 1992 and it is unlawful to harm or kill one of the snakes.
In 1995 NSANW was looking to understand the ecology of its canebrake population which had recently been put on the state endangered species list so they contacted Old Dominion University. The scientists there had recently started a study on the canebrake snakes. The study, conducted by Drs. Alan and Barbra Savitzky and Chris Petersen, at NSANW originally was solely Navy supported and still runs today.
"They came and said 'Hey we have canebrake rattlesnakes on our property, we know it's a state endangered species why don't you come here and study the rattlesnakes? 'Within several months , we were there. In fall of 1995 we found our first rattlesnake on northwest and started our study," Chris Petersen, now a natural resource specialist for Navy Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic, tracked the rattlesnakes full time for seven years and collected over 12,000 snake observations.
An agreement was formed between ODU and the Navy for the scientists to conduct the study at NSANW. The study, conducted by Drs. Alan and Barbra Savitzky, Chris Petersen, Scott Goetz and John Kleopfer, originally was solely Navy supported but in recent years also received significant funding and support by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Department.
"Very little was known about them," Petersen said. "I was working on my master's thesis on copperhead rattlesnakes so it wasn't a big leap to work with the canebrake rattlesnakes since both snake species are pit vipers. The first seven years were spent doing nothing but finding out basic biological information about the animal."
Radio telemetry allows the researchers to find the snakes repeatedly without disturbance to the snakes. The snakes have a natural camouflage that makes them hard to see in the best conditions.
"The way we study them is to catch the animals in the field and then bring them back to the laboratory at ODU. Then we surgically implant these little radio transmitters into the body cavity," Petersen said. "The surgery takes about an hour and the animals are kept overnight, then released the next day back into the field."
The snakes are then monitored, often daily, to investigate their daily and seasonal movements, activity range size, shedding and feeding cycles and hibernation sites. Since the start of the study, approximately 15,000 observations of 40 snakes have been recorded.
Those snakes are tracked using radio telemetry are implanted with a Passive Integrated Transponder tag. Researchers use a hand-held scanner to detect PIT tags in individuals if opportunistically encountered in the field. The scanner reads the tag's electromagnetic code and displays the tag's number. This tool helps researchers investigate how long the snakes live, how much they grow and is also used to estimate the population size.
"We estimate at the NSANW the population is at about 100 adult snakes," Petersen said. "We can't possibly study all of them but we have done a good job of keeping up with about 40 individual snakes over the years. There are still plenty out there that we have not seen
yet."
The snakes don't mind property boundaries so they come and go as they please. Virginia is at the northern limit of their range and they are only found in 8 counties of Virginia (Isle of Wight, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Hampton, Newport News, York and Hanover). Besides NSANW, the cavalier track to the west of Northwest Annex holds a significant populace. The two are really one whole unit, says Petersen, but there are other populaces as well.
"There is also a population of the rattlesnakes in the Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and a little further to the west into Suffolk," Petersen explained.
The canebrake while being one of the most venomous snakes on the east coast is also one of the relaxed.
"It is a very laid back animal," Petersen said. "Of the thousands of observation I have made of the animals, I have never been struck at and have rarely been rattled at. Its first line of defense is to lie in its leaf litter, very still. I have stepped over them and on them when tracking them and I have never been bitten. You would really have to harass one to get it to strike or even rattle."
This study was highlighted in "Tracking Deadly Vipers" which aired on the Discovery Channel.
The canebrake also has a unique Navy heritage.
"The canebrake is the snake on the first navy jack," Petersen said referring to the jack that reads "Don't tread on me."
| Date Taken: | 07.31.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 08.13.2009 12:51 |
| Story ID: | 37456 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, US |
| Web Views: | 733 |
| Downloads: | 259 |
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