Indigo Magazine- Winter 2021

The Member Magazine of The Orianne Society

Indigomagazine

Conservation Communications

Final Edition

Issue 13 • Winter 2021

Indigomagazine STAFF

Christopher Jenkins Chief Executive Officer

Gary Baldaeus

Chief Financial Officer

Heidi Hall

Development Director

Houston Chandler Director of Science

Ben Stegenga

Research Assistant

Talking Turtles

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Kiley Briggs

Northeast Turtle Conservation Coordinator

William Rodriguez

Communications Coordinator

Charli Thompson Program Manager

BOARD

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Burner Bob Going Big

Conservation Snake Stories

Dr. Bob Beard Mr. Matt Bostock Mr. Garth Bray Mr. Ross Caphton Mrs. Jane Fraser Dr. Thomas McKee Dr. Lloyd Newberry Mr. Merritt Paulson Mr. Vance Serchuk Mr. Nat Turner Mark Mandica Calvin Anthony-Duscheid Mr. Jack Whalen Jessica McGuire Rebecca Behrens Dr. Christopher Jenkins – CEO Mily Oseid Julie Calendrella Mr. Gary Baldaeus – Treasurer Natalie Dragnev Mrs. Heidi Hall - SecretaryTristan Rollins Dena Schertzer Amanda Duffus Joe Williams Liza Goss Reid Williams Madeline Keep Katie Madden Houston Chandler - Heidi Hall -

contributors

cONTRIBUTORS

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Snake Talk

The Challenges of Reptile Conservation in Great Britain

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Species Spotlight Member Spotlight

Field Photos

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issue

Linda Gette - Melissa Amarello - Shan Cammack - Reese Thompson - Chris Indigo Issue -4,Matthew Fall 2015 JenkinsMagazine - Steven Allain Indigo the member magazine KammMagazine - MontyisMorris - Bryce Wade - of The Orianne Society and is produced, designed Bryanna Zachary - Jason Berard - Kevin and edited by the staff of The Orianne Society.

Hutcheson - Olivia Thomas - Parker Gibbons - Jasmine Williamson - Gina Aderholdt

The Orianne Society @OrianneSociety 11 Old Fruit Stand Lane, Tiger, GA 30576 706-224-1359 info@oriannesociety.org www.OrianneSociety.org

@OrianneSociety

Indigomagazine I am pleased to announce that the Orianne Society is continuing to stay on the cutting edge of Conservation Communications. I can be a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to understanding technology; while I cannot operate much of it, I am very aware of how it is changing, and how important it is for us to continue being the leading producer of quality content on reptile and amphibian research and conservation. Thus, in 2021 we are going to begin the process of transitioning our communications. We will be increasing the amount of digital content, bringing it to you more frequently, and doing less ‘brick and mortar’ type communication.

When I say more digital content, you can expect more blogs, video content on our YouTube channel, podcasts, online seminars, and general social media posts.

Much of this content will be focused in certain areas. For example, the Snake Talk Podcast (highlighted in this edition) is going to be expanding beyond just the podcast to include an online seminar series, videography, and social media posts focused on snakes generally, as well as Southern Appalachian Timber Rattlesnakes and Adventure Snake Travel.

We also plan on developing content series in other areas, such as Natural History, Interpreting Science, and Habitat Restoration and Management.

When I say less ‘brick and mortar’ content, I mean fewer in-person events and presentations and the discontinuation of the Indigo Magazine. Some people may be sad at this prospect, but the truth is, online resources will allow us to reach a far larger and broader audience. We can also provide you much more information on reptiles and amphibians, and provide it with much more frequency. For example, information you would receive a few times a year in our magazine will be going out daily. We recognize that members are

message from our CEO

accustomed to getting the magazine as one of the perks for supporting Orianne, but we hope you look forward to our plan to include new and exciting membership perks.

Another important Communications transition for us, is that in addition to producing content with the idea of entertainment in mind, we will be developing our content to strategically help in our mission of reptile and amphibian conservation. For example, the development of the Snake Talk Podcast and expansion to other forms of media is specifically oriented at raising the general public’s understanding of snakes.

I often say that snakes are the most misunderstood and persecuted groups of animals on the planet. I realized long ago that the persecution comes from misunderstanding, and thus, perhaps, the greatest thing we can do for snakes is raise awareness.

So I have mixed feelings about writing my last letter for Indigo Magazine. While our magazine has been a place where we showcase our efforts, the work of our partners and members, and the wonder that is the amazing reptiles and amphibians we focus on, it is of the utmost importance for our Communications to stay at the forefront of time and technology. We will continue to showcase all of these things within the digital realm and I am confident that these transitions will improve our efforts to help reptiles and amphibians around the world.

Sincerely,

Dr. Christopher Jenkins, CEO The Orianne Society

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SPECIES spotlight

by Houston Chandler

Salamanders in the Virginia Mountains

Long-tailed Salamander. Credit: Houston Chandler

The Appalachian Mountains are well-known for their salamander diversity and with good reason. There is no other landscape on the planet that harbors more species of salamanders than this old mountain range that stretches along most of the eastern United States. In Virginia, the Appalachian Mountains run along the western side of the state, and this region is characterized by large expanses of protected public lands. Generally wet, cool weather make it a perfect region for salamanders, and the complex landscape has driven the speciation of salamanders in the region. Indeed, new species are still being described even within the last 2–3 years, thanks to advances in genetic analyses. The Virginia Mountains are a salamander aficionados dream, and it is truly hard to venture into the Jefferson National Forest or Shenandoah National Park without stumbling upon some variety of salamander.

The recent descriptions of new species have increased the number of salamander species that can be found in the Virginia Mountains to approximately 50. This number is likely to continue to rise as we gain a better understanding of long-term evolutionary processes within the region. The species found here include some of the prettiest in the entire United States, especially the Red Salamander (Pseudotriton ruber) and Yonahlossee Salamander (Plethodon yonahlossee). Even the humble Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus), one of the most abundant animals in the eastern U.S., can be quite visually striking on some occasions. The region is also home to one of the largest salamander species in the world, the Eastern Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis).

Hellbenders inhabit cold, fast flowing streams and rivers and depend on high water quality for their survival. Finally, there are several examples of endemic salamander species whose entire range is restricted to one or just a few mountaintops. These species are 4 ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG WINTER 2021

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50 Number of salamander species found in the Virginia Mountains

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Number of giant salamander species in the United States.

Number of Virginia salamanders on the US Endangered Species List Plethodon shenandoah

commonly imperiled (the Shenandoah Salamander, Plethodon shenandoah, is listed as federally Endangered) and face an uncertain future in a changing world. The diversity of salamander communities in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, which is still being uncovered today, speaks to the importance of conserving natural landscapes, especially as the threats facing these species reach unprecedented levels.

Above: Spotted Salamander. Below: Weller’s Salamander.

Credit: Houston Chandler

Above: Red-backed Salamanders. Below: Red Salamander.

Credit: Houston Chandler

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MEMBER spotlight

by Heidi Hall and Linda Gette

Courtesy: Linda Gette

LINDA GETTE

We sat down with long-time member, Linda Gette to learn more about her passion for reptiles and amphibians, and what compelled her to support The Orianne Society. This is what we learned...

From Linda Gette: “My first experience involving reptiles was when, as a young child, I found a Black Ratsnake crawling on the wall of our 6 ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG WINTER 2021

basement. Pretty scary, as, like most people, I seemed to be afraid of snakes, but I was fascinated, too. I am not afraid anymore, but still fascinated! (The snake was not harmed, just relocated out of doors.)

Years later I discovered a vernal pool on my land, and on one cold, rainy night in spring found my woods and pond full of migrating Spotted Salamanders. What a thrill! The pool also

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In the past few years I have lucked into several opportunities to work with knowledgeable herp folks. As a volunteer with the Department of Wildlife Resources and the National Park Service in Virginia I have worked on Bog Turtle surveys for the last 8ish years. As a volunteer at Archbold Biological Station in Florida for the past 6 years I’ve helped with Gopher Tortoise tracking and even got to help work on a hatchling study! In my time there I’ve encountered amphiumas, skinks, a coachwhip and indigos. Still no Coral Snake; I seem to just miss them!

Courtesy: Linda Gette

Then in 2017, up popped The Orianne Society on my Facebook page (thank you, FB)! You were announcing Indigo Days, and I got to go! What a thrill! The people were so great, we saw lots of indigos, and I even got to help measure one!

And I made several friends that I’ve kept in touch with since then, though most are from Georgia, so I don’t see them often.

After the event, I was able to visit your breeding facility and

have a tour. Another huge thrill!

I think if I HAD to pick one favorite herp, it would have to be the Eastern Indigo. Such a beautiful, calm creature! I am so thankful for the work you do to protect them and to try to increase their numbers. I have enjoyed being a member since that encounter in 2017. I love following your great work through the newsletter and your YouTube videos. I enjoyed attending Places You’ve Never Herped last year, too, but haven’t been able to do another Indigo Days because of scheduling conflicts. But I haven’t given up!

Last year I was able to visit Snake Road in Illinois for a tour with the Illinois State Herpetologist — once in spring and once in fall — when they close the forest road to protect herps on migration. That was a good time. Where I live now there is a meadow, and I’ve put out some tin. I have repeatedly found 3 socially distanced Garter Snakes under it. And there is a huge Black Ratsnake eating some of the birds and eggs in my yard. I can see he has not missed many meals!!” *** Linda, we can’t thank you enough for your support and we look forward to seeing you on many more Orianne events!

Credit: Linda Gette

had Wood Frogs, Green Frogs and Jefferson Salamanders. In my yard I also found Pickerel and Leopard frogs, and nearby there were Spotted, Painted, Snapping and Wood Turtles.

Once I was getting in firewood and saw an “earthworm”…but then it stood up! It wasn’t an earthworm but a Red-backed Salamander…my first salamander! Since I didn’t know anyone who knew about these things, I struggled to figure out this stuff out with my Peterson guides!

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Pipsqueak the Gophersnake shows kids how wonderful and friendly snakes are. Credit: Jeff Smith.

Conservation Snake Stories

Melissa Amarello - Advocates for Snake Preservation

Like me, you probably grew up hearing stories about snakes, stories that rarely had nice things to say about them. From the biblical tale of the Garden of Eden to the modern story of Harry Potter, snakes are usually portrayed as deceitful and villainous. Real snakes prefer to escape our notice, so myths and fables supply what most people know about them. Consequently, misunderstanding and fear eclipse appreciation of these mysterious and intriguing animals.

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And snakes need our help. They haven’t escaped the worldwide extinction crisis; climate chaos, habitat loss, and exploitation threaten many snakes. Like all native wildlife, snakes are an important part of our community and a vibrant, functioning planet. But negative attitudes about snakes may be the biggest barrier to their conservation – it is difficult to gain public support when you aren’t perceived as cute and cuddly..

Advocates for Snake Preservation is Changing the Narrative about Snakes Just before founding Advocates for Snake Preservation (ASP), Jeff and I worked at a nature preserve full of snakes. Most visitors came for birds or butterflies, but left with a new appreciation for snakes.

We introduced a couple who “hoped not to see any snakes during their visit” to Porter, one of our resident Western Black-Tailed Rattlesnakes, and shared her story with them. They returned from their hike excited to share photos

Indigomagazine of the “cute snake” they spotted and wanted to learn more. A scout leader who routinely killed any rattlesnake that showed up in his yard decided to reconsider his behavior after learning from us that rattlesnakes take care of their kids. Stories engage people in a way that simply stating facts and figures do not.

In 2014, we founded ASP to promote Compassionate Conservation and coexistence with snakes by illustrating cool snake behaviors with multimedia stories. While education and changing attitudes are the heart of ASP’s work, we also take action and advocate on issues that can’t wait for long-term strategy and continue our research to provide a clearer picture of what snakes are really like.

Keeping Wildlife Management ScienceBased Snakes are threatened by the same issues that affect all wildlife, but negative attitudes may be the biggest barrier to their conservation because they impede our ability to address other threats.

That is why we founded ASP. But that situation was something we’d only read about; we hadn’t actually seen a conservation project halted for this reason, until we got a call for help about a situation in Massachusetts.

As part of their comprehensive Timber Rattlesnake conservation program, the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MDFW) proposed introducing an experimental population on Mount Zion Island in the Quabbin Reservoir. Opposition, based on the usual fears and myths about snakes, inspired legislation that would require this and any future conservation efforts to be approved by the Massachusetts legislature. Typically, conservation decisions are made by MDFW; this legislation would have had far-reaching impacts on future conservation

decisions in Massachusetts and set a dangerous precedent for other states.

with lead — a serious threat to wildlife and public health — for any reason.

We formed a coalition with local biologists and conservationists, rallied our supporters, and reached out to local media to demonstrate public support for the Timber Rattlesnake project. And we won. The legislature got our message loud and clear: science, not politics, should drive conservation. The legislation did not pass and MDFW continues to use the best available science to inform conservation and preserve wildlife.

Together with a diverse coalition of local, national, and international groups, we urged the Arizona legislature to reject this irresponsible legislation, and they did! One of the swing voters in the Senate actually read a letter from one of our supporters because it inspired her to vote against this reckless legislation.

Don’t ever think that your voice doesn’t matter because a single letter can make a difference and stop a bill that seemed certain to pass.

Killing the Arizona Snake-Shooting Bill HB2022 was introduced in the 2017 Arizona legislature to change Shannon’s Law, a prohibition on shooting guns within city limits. Under the proposed amendment, it would have been legal to shoot with “pellets that are 1.3 millimeters or less in diameter and that are loaded in a rimfire cartridge with a caliber that does not exceed twentytwo hundredths of an inch.” This irresponsible legislation threatened public safety by allowing shooting in populated areas and encouraging people to approach potentially dangerous animals.

There are safer and more effective ways to resolve wildlife conflicts than shooting in populated areas. This legislation could have resulted in more snakebites since it encouraged people to approach venomous snakes rather than leave them alone. Most bites happen when handling or attempting to kill snakes; even snakes thought to be dead have bitten when handled or pickedup. The safest course of action when a venomous snake is spotted is to walk away and not approach the snake for any reason.

The exception in HB2022 was not solely limited to snakes or other unwanted wild animals, nor did it specify shooting only in cases of an imminent threat to public safety. This law would have allowed Arizona neighborhoods to be littered

Stopping Snake Slaughter at Rattlesnake Roundups In March 2015, I traveled to a place I swore I’d never go, to an event I didn’t think I could bear to see. But Jo-Anne of We Animals Media and I decided it was important to bear witness to and document the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup.

So there I stood at the pit, smelling the fear and hearing the screams* of thousands of rattlesnakes about to be slaughtered for entertainment and profit.

As I looked into the eyes of one male Western Diamond-Backed Rattlesnake, filled with blood from rough handling, I promised him that we would fight to stop snake slaughter at rattlesnake roundups.

And we have.

We changed the way rattlesnake roundups were discussed by mainstream media.

Each year they had promoted rattlesnake roundups as folksy, family-friendly fun, repeating propaganda from roundup proponents verbatim: roundups are needed to ensure public safety; we would be overrun with rattlesnakes and police would be so busy answering snake calls they would be unable to do real police work; and paradoxically, roundups have no effect on local snake populations (making it something of a mystery how they can also alleviate their purported ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG WINTER 2021

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One of the many unwilling participants in the 2015 Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup, a male Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake.

Credit: Melissa Amarello

overpopulation problem). But none of these claims are backed by science and our campaign shed light on these issues.

Rattlesnake roundups are unsustainable events that foster disrespect for wildlife with myth-riddled presentations that demonstrate risky handling techniques.

Fewer than five deaths in the U.S. each year can be attributed to snakebite, which includes people who refuse treatment and those bitten by their exotic pets. Interestingly, the USDA’s Cattle Death Loss report has logged zero cattle deaths from snakes in more than two decades and ranchers report that snakes are not a threat to livestock, who usually recover from snakebites, even without treatment. Science does not support claims that roundups are required to 10 ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG WINTER 2021

“Snakes are threatened by the same issues that affect all wildlife, but negative attitudes may be the biggest barrier to their conservation because they impede our ability to address other threats.”

prevent rattlesnake overpopulation. Like other wild animals, snake populations are maintained by food availability, predation, and other natural processes like disease.

Unlike traditional game hunting, there is no monitoring or reporting to regulate the slaughter of snakes. Biologists and conservationists believe that roundups have contributed to the current decline in Eastern Diamond-backed Rattlesnakes, which have been proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act. The criticisms we raised in our campaign were covered by more than 50 outlets.

International, national, and Texas media considered the snakes’ side of the story for the first time and discussed the controversy surrounding roundups.

But the roundups persist, so our work

Indigomagazine here is not done. “The Wall of Shame” (taken by Jo-Anne during our 2015 trip) was selected as a Highly Commended image in the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019 Competition. When this exhibition went on international tour, many people learned about these horrific events for the first time.

We’re also helping distribute A Rattlesnake’s Story: The Story of a Young Snake Who Discovers the Sad Truth About Rattlesnake Roundups. This children’s book was written by Grace Taracka and illustrated by Hannah Germeau, two high school students wanting to raise awareness about rattlesnake roundups.

You can help by buying a copy of this book for your local library – especially if you live in roundup country. *Rattlesnakes rattle when scared, their version of screaming.

Sharing Individual Snakes’ Stories Using stories to teach people about snakes and make them more familiar and less scary remains the heart of our work.

Luckily our central Arizona field site where we’ve worked for nearly a decade provides a seemingly unlimited number of inspiring stories: rattlesnake friends, mommies defending their babies from squirrels, and snake babysitters just to name a few. Getting to know individual snakes for so many years can reveal amazing things; here’s one example.

Last summer we visited this study site after a near two-year absence. It was nesting season and though we saw fewer snakes than in years past, who we did see made it a very special trip.

We saw one of our oldest friends, TWA, and her new family — the fourth litter of hers we’ve observed. We first met a clearly pregnant TWA in the spring of 2011 at the outset of our Arizona Black Rattlesnake social behavior study. She

TWA with one of her baby Arizona Black Rattlesnakes in 2019. Credit: Melissa Amarello.

was the biggest, oldest mom that year (and every year since). As large and black as an adult male in that population, her long, non-tapering rattle** indicated she stopped growing long ago.

Like all rattlesnakes, Arizona Black Rattlesnakes give birth to live young (i.e., viviparous) and in this population that happens every two to three years.

When they emerge from their dens in the spring it is easy to tell who’s pregnant (already looking fat and healthy) and who gave birth last year (still somewhat or very skinny). The pregnant females may grab a meal, but are in place at their gestation sites by June and there they stay until they give birth in late August to mid-September. Many of the snakes in this population gestate and nest at rookeries with other pregnant

females (and the occasional male and juvenile visitor), although sometimes they ditch the group and find their own private nest a day or two before giving birth. Like most rattlesnakes, they care for their young for the first week or two (until the babies shed their skin for the first time) and may have the assistance of babysitters. We have also observed mothers and offspring associating months and years later, but that’s another story.

TWA often shares her nest with younger moms and as is usually the case, sticks them with the child care duties. In fact, in 2011, 2013, and 2015, we never observed her with her kiddos, the babysitter was the only one seen attending the babies.

But on our last day in 2019, we finally

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Indigomagazine hard to beat a face-to-face conversation, especially for contentious issues like living with venomous snakes. The pandemic has brought new challenges to this type of work, but we’re looking forward to getting back out there, in new and exciting ways, in 2021.

40 Rattlesnakes Discovered in Couple’s Shed!

Usually headlines like that are followed by a story detailing how miraculously no one was hurt before the snakes were inevitably removed or killed. This is not that story. But it did start out that way.

Melissa Amarello, ASP Executive Director, testifying before the Arizona Senate Government Committee about public safety risks from HB2022. Courtesy: Melissa Amarello

saw TWA with one of her kids.

Based on what we’ve learned about growth and reproduction in this population, TWA was (at least) in her early teens when we met her in 2011, so she’s pushing 20 years old now and still producing big, healthy litters. There is so little known about how long rattlesnakes live and reproduce; we’re fortunate that this remarkably tolerant group of rattlesnakes has given us a peek into this and many other aspects of their lives. **The rattle is a series of segments, like links in a chain, one added each time a snake sheds its skin, which happens one or more times each year. Although you can’t directly age a rattlesnake by counting the number of segments, you can learn things from the rattle’s shape and size, especially in snake populations you’ve been monitoring closely for years. The size of each rattle segment is correlated with the length of the snake, so a growing snake’s rattle will taper down to a point at the end. As they mature, growth slows to a near halt, older segments break off, and there is little to no taper. We also know that in this population, females start reproducing at four to six years old, when

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they are much smaller and lighter in color than TWA was in 2011, indicating she was many years older.

Face to Face for Snakes Last summer at our local farmers market, a little boy ran up and hugged me. At first I thought it was a case of mistaken identity, but then he started asking after Pipsqueak, one of our snake teaching assistants (who usually steals the show). We had visited his classroom at a nearby rural school and made the kind of lasting impression we aim to with our outreach programs: to teach people that snakes aren’t bad, there are safe ways to coexist, and having snakes around us makes our lives richer.

Helping kids fall in love with their snake neighbors is an important step towards changing the prevalent attitude that “the only good snake is a dead snake.”

Since May 2014 we’ve participated in more than 20 festivals and given dozens of presentations in classrooms, libraries, and other venues. In all, we’ve reached more than 30,000 people in the southwestern United States! It’s

Initially, this couple wanted the rattlesnakes gone. But since removing the snakes does not address the reason they show up in the first place, new ones showed up and the old ones found their way back. In rural Arizona, their lush yard offers food and water for wildlife (including snakes) and an old adobe structure used for storage provided the best overwintering den around for Western Diamond-Backed Rattlesnakes.

We would come to call this building the “Snake House.”

Nowadays snakes are only moved if they’re hanging around immediately outside the couples’ house, a hundred yards back to the Snake House.

The homeowners have become snake stewards, greeting them when encountered and offering apologies to them when disturbed. In short, they treat rattlesnakes like the good neighbors they are. So what happened? #EducationIsConservation is more than a hashtag. Our friend and colleague has been working directly with this couple for years, since he was first called upon to solve their snake problem. Initially he convinced them to let him move, rather than kill, the snakes, and with each visit he’d teach them a bit more about their snake neighbors. Eventually he got

Indigomagazine permission to enter the Snake House each winter to count and identify its occupants while making improvements so that it is more snake-friendly and safer for people to access and move around.

This story has a happy ending for everyone. What was once an unwanted infestation is now a source of pride. The owners of the Snake House permit us to monitor the comings and goings of snakes with cameras, and each winter during our annual count, they invite friends to check out their snakes. During this festive event, we share stories and answer questions about rattlesnakes (and living with them) and everyone sees how timid and peaceful rattlesnakes are while learning more about them.

play. Often, people are more likely to listen and learn from their friends and families, giving everyone an opportunity to share their knowledge and love of snakes and be a conservationist.

Together, we can create a world where snakes are respected and appreciated, instead of feared and hated.

And we’re learning from the snakes too.

Unlike our Arizona Black Rattlesnake dens, it’s a different group at the Snake House every year. Many repeat visitors (though they seem to rotate between this and other unknown dens), but always new faces too. And unlike other Western Diamond-Backed Rattlesnake dens we’ve monitored, juveniles use the Snake House too, as well as other snake species including Mohave Rattlesnakes.

We’re in this for the long haul; changing how people view and treat snakes does not happen overnight, but it does happen. And you can help.

The festive annual event that is processing Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnakes at the Snake House. Credit: Melissa Amarello.

We Are All Conservationists The best thing about conservation stories is that everyone can be a conservationist. If you love snakes you probably have stories of your own: encounters with snakes in the wild, stories you’ve read or heard, or perhaps a cool video you saw on YouTube.

Conservation isn’t something done exclusively by scientists, policy-makers, or organizations like ASP and the Orianne Society; all of us have a role to

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Indigomagazine

Burner Bob Going Big

by Shan Cammack

- and

As the fog drifts downhill into the Longleaf flatwoods the game camera snaps a photo of a Bobwhite Quail greeting a Gopher Tortoise on the apron of his burrow. Teachers at Kennesaw State University set up this game cam in a Longleaf Pine forest in southeast Georgia to creatively bring the magic of nature into the classroom. Along with Gopher Tortoise cameras (special equipment used to snake into a burrow) the game cam is being used to educate students about this important keystone species. Dozens of critters--birds, small mammals, snakes, frogs, and lizards--use the Gopher Tortoise burrows as a hideout or as a home. All friends of Burner Bob®.

Burner Bob® is a giant Bobwhite Quail devoted to teaching people about the importance of the Longleaf Pine ecosystem and the web of life that it supports. He extolls the virtues of prescribed fire—a safe way to apply a natural process, ensure ecosystem function, and reduce wildfire risk. Read more about his humble beginnings in the side bar.

How exactly does an 8-foot tall Bobwhite Quail deliver his message and win over the hearts of thousands? Burner Bob® has teamed up with some innovative humans as well as some magnanimous benefactors to get his message out in a creative way. Private supporters of The Longleaf Alliance (LLA) along with TERN, The Environmental Resources 14 ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG WINTER 2021

Reese Thompson

Network, which is the friends group of Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Wildlife Conservation Section, donated critical funds to this cause. With this funding, Burner Bob® set out to promote prescribed fire as the indispensable tool for habitat management and to reach a new and larger audience.

Burner Bob® was hatched from the great mind of Reese Thompson, tree farmer and conservation enthusiast from Vidalia, Georgia. In his early years, Burner Bob® communicated mostly with his popular coloring books and engaging stories.

Next came a mascot, then Reese teamed up with The Longleaf Alliance and Burner Bob found a new home. From there it was off to the races. In 2019 alone, Burner Bob was able to make “inquail appearances” at 15 events in seven states, with an estimated reach of almost 55,000 people. The events varied from prescribed fire council annual meetings in Georgia, South Carolina, and Missouri to Fire Festival and Family events in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Burner Bob® even met up with Smokey Bear at the Project Wild Annual Meeting in Arkansas to brainstorm about how to expand educational curricula to include his message about Good Fire.

Burner Bob® also attended two film screenings. At the Wild & Scenic Film Festival in Columbus, Georgia he debuted his feature short in the Roots of

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Shan Cammack and Burner Bob®. Credit: Randy Tate

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Burner BobÂŽ on the fireline. Credit: Reese Thompson

Fire crew member with a snake found on the fireline. Credit: Reese Thompson

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“Burner Bob® is a giant Bobwhite Quail devoted to teaching people about the importance of the Longleaf Pine ecosystem and the web of life that it supports.”

Resilience Block which was sponsored by The Nature Conservancy. It was quite a sight to see 125 people enjoying popcorn and his film. Burner Bob® even jazzed up the panel discussion on prescribed fire during the event. While he didn’t actually answer any questions, his presence clearly engaged the audience. His human friends were treated like VIPs that weekend as well. They were even recognized on the street and greeted by the locals as “Hey, you’re that girl in the Burner Bob video!”

You can find his video on The Longleaf Alliance YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=8ecv3qZjJcw The short video was filmed during a prescribed burn in the “Big Woods.”

Beyond conducting a prescribed burn, the day included unique challenges, such as not catching (a highly flammable) Burner Bob® on fire and keeping the videographer out of the smoke! The day turned out to be very successful, with a safe prescribed burn, no singed feathers, and a ton of exciting footage. The video has been promoted by Georgia DNR and LLA through several social media platforms. The video’s reach has been estimated at more than 110,000 people.

Other posts on Facebook and Instagram have reached another 15,000. Burner Bob® even has his own Facebook page where he posts pictures of fire and friends and has a following of almost 1,000 humans. While Burner Bob® may appear to be a luddite, he understands that you’ve got to keep up with the changing times to remain popular.

Another unique vehicle for expression came in the form of an article in a national children’s magazine. The 2019 summer issue of Muse was focused on fire, and hit it from all angles: wildfire, climate change, technology, devastation.

The magazine wrapped up with a couple of optimistic articles that featured prescribed fire in the Southeast and emphasized what an important role it plays. Burner Bob® made a cameo in one of the articles and was able to promote The Longleaf Alliance’s website.

You can find this article here: https:// georgiawildlife.com/sites/default/files/ wrd/pdf/Muse%20Magazine%202019. pdf And finally, Burner Bob, the Cool Dude with a Hot Message®, needed to sling some swag. The grants and donations helped produce a number of enviable items. T-shirts, bumper stickers, puzzles, and vinyl stickers were treasured by many and provided another vehicle for promoting Burner Bob® and his cause.

I can’t tell you how many times I got to entice people to check out our video by simply carrying around my water bottle with the flashy stickers and answering questions from curious people who spotted the stickers.

All of this work turned out to be a great communication effort that effectively delivered the message in creative ways, promoting prescribed fire and enhancing conservation. In fact, the educational campaign recently earned second place in the hotly contested Education Category

at the Association for Conservation Information national award ceremony.

(We actually tied for second place with Nevada Department of Wildlife’s Nevada Knockout, barely edged out by Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.)

Burner Bob® continues to hatch out new ideas and, most recently, a mascot brother. (Psst, more details coming soon!) Funds from TERN, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife have been earmarked for new and innovative plans, including more videos. One private donor specified that her funds were to be used for “whatever Burner Bob® needs.” It is hoped that these efforts will capture the attention and empathy of youth and adults alike, enkindling more friends to support and promote prescribed fire.

Back in the Longleaf Pine forest, it’s late afternoon and haze of the fog has given way to smoke from a prescribed burn. The smoke intensifies the oranges and reds of the setting sun and drifts across the burrow downslope as the bobwhite quail and the Gopher Tortoise say goodnight to each other. They are unaware of the great efforts made by Burner Bob® and his human friends, but they enjoy the benefits, nonetheless.

They simply reflect on what a great prescribed burn it has been that day and share their excitement about the new growth of native plants that they know will be providing them food and shelter in the coming weeks.

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Indigomagazine Shan Cammack is a Wildlife Biologist III with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and is an active steering committee member of The Interagency Burn Team and the Georgia Prescribed Fire Council. Shan is also the 2020 recipient of The Burner Bob® Prescribed Fire Champion Award from The Longleaf Alliance. “This award recognizes an individual or organization for outstanding efforts in championing prescribed fire to ensure the future of the Longleaf ecosystem on private land.” Shan humbly maintains that she enjoys working with Burner Bob® and is really just riding his coattails, or would that primarily be his coverts?

a message from Reese As a conservation-minded tree farmer, Reese Thompson is involved with many conservation organizations. He actively participates in their meetings, where the recurring theme is the need for more fire on the ground to create good habitat for sensitive species.

Reese’s family are seventh-generation Georgians who have connected to the land through forestry. They have been in the turpentine business for at least four generations. For the Thompsons, conducting controlled burning for wildfire suppression has been an annual practice.

Presently, their habitat supports many sensitive species, including the federally listed Eastern Indigo Snake, Gopher Tortoise (a candidate for federal listing), Bachman’s sparrow, and others. With a family tradition of burning and a personal affinity for the resulting habitat improvements, Reese began wondering: Why there wasn’t there more prescribed fire?

Over the last 76 years, we have all grown up with Smokey Bear saying, “Only you can prevent forest fires.” Smokey has done an excellent job of raising public awareness of everyone’s responsibility

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to prevent forest fires. One day while riding a tree planter, Reese realized that there was not a charismatic messenger to promote the benefits of fire. The longleaf ecosystem has evolved with lightning strike fires and its sensitive species are dependent upon frequent burns. After some thought, the idea of a Bobwhite Quail, an iconic bird in the south and one that greatly benefits from prescribed fire, would be the perfect mascot. Hence the name, Burner Bob® was created along with the slogan “A Cool Dude with a Hot Message.®” A bigger than life-sized quail costume was designed and made by International Mascot Corporation. Burner Bob® was soon appearing at conservation meetings, festival events, and even on TV, spreading the message that good fires help prevent bad fires and that they create habitat for sensitive species.

There have been some logistical issues transporting the costume around the region. Many thanks to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, which has provided grant funding for a second Burner Bob® costume (an identical brother!). This will greatly increase his exposure.

The biggest challenge, however, remains changing people’s mindset that all fires are bad. It is an uphill educational process of explaining that fire is nature’s way of cleansing the forest and recycling nutrients. With a lot of work, hopefully the public will recognize that Burner Bob®’s message and Smokey Bear’s message actually complement each other.

Reese Thompson, Tree Farmer, Vidalia, Georgia

Indigomagazine

Fire crew with Reese Thompson, far right. Credit Reese Thompson

Gopher Tortoise found on the property of Reese Thompson. Credit: Reese Thompson

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Indigomagazine

Conservation through Conversation

by Chris Jenkins

I have what some people might think is an eccentric fascination with snakes.

For some reason unknown to me, people can be fanatics for wild animals such as lions, tigers, or bears or even domestic animals such as cats or horses, but if you are interested in snakes you may get categorized as strange. It goes much further than this though, into a deep unfounded-uninformed dislike of snakes in many people. Snakes are the most feared, maligned, and persecuted group of animals on the planet. I have seen grown men scream and run at the site of a six inch brown snake, people 20 ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG WINTER 2021

who lose control of their mind and body if a snake appears on a television screen, and countless numbers of snakes that were killed out of confused emotions, whether those be hate or fear.

But I think these emotions often times mask a deep fascination. Many people truly “lose their mind” in the presence of a snake, losing any sense of rationality and let these confused and uninformed emotions take control of them. But if you can get by those initial emotions that people have and provide them with information on snakes in a “controlled-

safe” environment, it seems that so many people are surprised to realize they are fascinated by these animals. I cannot tell you how many times I have given a presentation on snakes and during the live animal demonstration I have someone come up to me initially telling me how much they hate snakes. They typically go into every story where they have killed a snake. But in the end, they spend a long time touching the snake and asking questions, and it is really apparent that they are fascinated by snakes. I like to say that if I present you a fork you eat with it, if I present you with a book

Indigomagazine you read it, but if I present you with a snake you kill it…meaning that we are taught from a young age that the way you interact with snakes is to kill them.

Having all these experiences has made me realize that one of the most important ways we can conserve snake populations is by providing transformative moments.

These moments can happen in so many different ways, from putting a snake in a child’s hands to an elderly person reading an article written in a local paper, but the concept is the same; getting people away from the irrational, learned, and uninformed place of hating and fearing snakes to a place of fascination, desire to learn, and appreciation. I have really been working on helping people make this transformation my entire career but we recently we put a name to this effort, Snake Talk.

Snake Talk is really a movement to transform people’s negative perspectives on snakes. The name symbolizes the concept of slowing down, being calm, and having a knowledgeable conversation about snakes to help people get past irrational fears. I always say no one is indifferent to a snake. If you are walking through the woods and a crow flies by, many people may not pay any attention to the crow, but if on that same hike you pass a snake coiled next to the trail it would be a big deal. Snakes bring about intense emotions in most people, sometimes that is interest and appreciation but more often it is fear.

Snake Talk is an effort to capitalize on snake’s abilities to stir intense emotions, calm those fears with objective knowledge, and transform those fears to interest and fascination. Not everyone needs to dedicate their lives to snake as I have, but it is important that we realize snakes are important too.

I recently launched the Snake Talk podcast and I end every episode with the

saying: “Remember, snakes are animals too and it is a privilege to see one in the wild”. It may sound strange to some people, but I think it is important for people to really understand that snakes are animals just like the deer they feed in their backyard or the dog that sleeps at their feet. Many people subconsciously put snakes in their own category and do not think anything strange about killing them. But I think people would think it was strange, perhaps even get quite mad, if I decided to kill every blue bird I encountered. Why is the snake different than the bluebird? Again snakes are animals too and we should respect them for that. The second part of the saying talks about how much of a privilege it is to see a snake in the wild. If you were hiking in the woods and had a moose standing next to the trail, you would likely be very excited and spend a long time observing, taking pictures, and making memories. But if you were walking and saw a rattlesnake coiled in the woods

off the trail, we have found that most people would try to harm the snake, fearing they were in danger. Why not spend a long-time observing it, taking pictures, and making memories? To see a rattlesnake in the wild is truly a special thing, we are trying to get people to appreciate these rattlesnake encounters just like they would appreciate the moose.

The idea for launching the Snake Talk movement was when it occurred to me that I had been opportunistically working to transform people’s views of snakes for most of my life. I also realized how important that was for conservation. Years ago I would have told you that protecting a piece of land or restoring an important habitat was always more important. But I truly think that for the conservation of snakes, raising awareness and providing focused education will further the conservation of these species far more

The first episode of Snake Talk. Courtesy of Houston Chandler and Heidi Hall

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Indigomagazine “Snake Talk is really a movement to transform people’s negative perspectives on snakes. The name symbolizes the concept of slowing down, being calm, and having a knowledgeable conversation about snakes to help people get past irrational fears. “ than habitat or land protection. Do not get me wrong, land conservation and other approaches are very important and we will continue to work on them, but the primary problem most snake species face (especially venomous one) is an issue with their image and the resulting persecution. If Snake Talk can play a role in changing how people think about snakes and thus how they react when seeing one, I see it as one of the greatest contributions we can make to snake conservation.

The first step of formalizing Snake Talk as an Orianne Society program to raise awareness of snakes was launching the podcast. Over the past couple years I have really become addicted to podcasts, listening to them instead of listening to music or watching television. I had been thinking about how fun it would be launch a podcast. The only other area where I had enough experience to launch a meaningful podcast was in the hunting and fishing world but that podcast world is saturated and there were very few podcasts out there about reptiles and amphibians. Plus, snakes are probably what I know best and one of my greatest interests. It came together when I took the idea of doing a podcast from being a “fun” thing to do to realizing that is could be an important tool for snake conservation. On top of that, having spent a career working at universities and in nonprofits with many of the leading scientists, land managers, and conservationists in the world, I realized that we could put together a podcast that had incredible content with very 22 ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG WINTER 2021

interesting people.

We launched the first episode of Snake Talk on July 27th and are releasing a new episodes twice per month. Most episodes are between one and one and a half hours long and involve me interviewing an expert on some aspect of snakes.

I start every podcast introducing how I know the guest and giving them a brief introduction. Then I ask a series of questions that gives the audience an in-depth understanding of how they got into snakes and how their life path has led them to where they are today relative

to snakes. We then typically get in depth on a particular topic that is the focus of the episode, which could be anything from the ecology of a particular snake, a nonprofit they run, or general topics such as snake bite. Finally, my favorite part is at the end of every podcast where I ask each guest to tell us their best snake story as if we were sitting around a campfire.

Someday I will cut out all of these stories and make one podcast episode that is just snake stories, I cannot wait!

We thought the best way to launch the podcast series was to focus on the species of snake that started The Orianne Society and to give some background on Orianne as the organization producing the podcast. Thus, two Orianne Society employees joined me as we introduced the podcast, Houston Chandler, who is quickly becoming an expert on Eastern Indigo Snakes, and Heidi Hall, who has been with Orianne from its inception.

Most of the episode was spent talking

Episode 2: America’s Snake: Timber Rattlesnake Ecology with Dr. Steven Beaupre. Courtesy Dr. Steven Beaupre.

Indigomagazine about the Eastern Indigo Snake (or ‘Emperor of the Forest’). Eastern Indigo Snakes are one of the largest native snakes in North America and top predators in the Southeast feeding primarily on other snakes. We talked about their natural history and ecology, touching on many of the conservation programs Orianne Society has worked on with them over the years. We also talked about the Orianne Society itself, including its origins and history. The story of The Orianne Society is one of a young girl who inspired a region of partners to focus on conserving a snake species and of an organization that had to fight to survive as it transitioned from a family foundation to a public charity.

Our episodes have and will continue to cover a wide range of topics but one theme that is prevalent in many episodes is ecology and natural history.

For example, I interviewed Dr. Steven Beaupre from the University of Arkansas where we talked in depth about the ecology of Timber Rattlesnakes. Dr. Beaupre is one of the world’s most accomplished rattlesnake ecologists who has been a leading force in increasing our knowledge of physiological ecology in snakes. If you do not know what physiological ecology is, listen to the episode, it is one of the most important aspects of ecology if you want to understand snakes and what they do. We also had an episode where I talk with a friend of mine, Dr. Andy Whitworth about the natural history of Bushmasters. Andy has a fascinating history that takes him from the industrial landscapes of North England to the rainforests of Latin America. Andy and I share a fascination with one of the world’s largest vipers, Bushmasters. But unlike me, Andy has seen multiple in the wild and is working to understand their ecology and to conserve their habitats every day. We also interview Dr. Rulon Clark. Dr. Clark is a professor at San Diego State University and has

Episode 5: Bushmasters and Osa Conservation with Dr. Andy Whitworth. Courtesy of Dr. Andy Whitworth.

worked on a diverse group of snakes from different regions of the country.

We discuss how he pioneered the use of videography to study the ecology and natural history of snakes. The details of these snake’s hidden lives are incredible tools for making the type of transformation change we built Snake Talk on. Some of the observations Dr. Clark is making with his cameras have to be seen to believe, go listen to the episode and learn how you can watch the videos.

Another theme that is often the focus of the Snake Talk podcast episodes is conservation. Our first conservation focused episode features staff from the Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation (OCIC). The OCIC is a state-of-the-art reptile breeding center with herpetariums, veterinary and quarantine facilities, offices, and outdoor enclosures for breeding. The Orianne Society built the

facility almost 10 years ago to serve as source of indigo snakes to reestablish their populations in the Gulf Region of Florida and Alabama. We have partnered with the Central Florida Zoo who now runs the facility. On the episode we talk with founding OCIC Director, Fred Antonio, and current CFZ OCIC Director, Michelle Hoffman, on a wide range of topics including the construction of the facility, husbandry and breeding of indigo snakes, the value of captive breeding to conservation, and the indigo snake reintroduction program. In episode four of Snake Talk I spoke with Drs. Stephen Spear and Jesus Sigala. Together they cochair the Viper Specialist Group (VSG) for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

While not well known in the United States, IUCN is one of the largest most influential conservation organizations in the world. The Viper Specialist group ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG WINTER 2021

Indigomagazine

Episode 8: Georgia to Texas, Field Herping and YouTube with Noah Fields. Courtesy: Noah Fields.

Episode 9: International Trade and Snake Skins with Craig Hoover. Courtesy: Craig Hoover.

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was formed about ten years ago and has been the leading force uniting biologists, conservationists, and governments to implement viper conservation around the world. I also had the great honor to interview Dr. Charles Peterson for an episode on his career researching and conserving reptiles and amphibians in the Intermountain West. I met chuck back in 2000 when he took a chance on me and took me on as a PhD student.

I was already in a PhD program but I had this burning need to work with rattlesnakes and Chuck gave me the opportunity. In the episode with Chuck we talk about a wide range of projects he has focused on over the years, but spend a great deal of time talking about the project I was part of; one of the longest-term, largest dataset producing projects on snakes ever, the Southeast Idaho Great Basin Rattlesnake project.

Finally on conservation, we interview Melissa Amarello who founded and works as Executive Director of Advocates for Snake Preservation.

Melissa’s organization takes a unique approach to snake conservation by focusing primarily on advocacy addressing issues such as rattlesnake roundups. In the interview we also spend some time discussing her studies on parental care in snakes and some interesting species such as Arizona Black Rattlesnakes.

Many of our episodes are focused on important or interesting topics related to snakes. As an example of an important issue, episode 9 is focused on wildlife trade and specifically the skin trade in snakes. I interview Craig Hoover who is currently the Vice President of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums but has had a long career with the United Snakes Fish and Wildlife Service working on combating wildlife trade.

Craig tells incredible stories from untangling a ball of hundreds of ball pythons to the length people will go

Indigomagazine to try and smuggle reptiles in and out of the country on their body. We also try to hit on some interesting topics such as our interview with Kim Mross who works on the popular TV show The Walking Dead. Kim’s role is to be the snake wrangler. Before and during filming Kim goes in and captures snakes, holds them temporarily and then releases them after the scene is filmed. Kim shares some great stories about actors and actresses and how they respond to the abundance of snakes they find at their filming locations. We also spend some time talking about Kim’s efforts to rescue and rehabilitate reptiles in conjunction with Georgia Department of Natural Resources. This is an episode you do not want to miss, snakes are often seen in the movies and we discuss some of these films and our takes on how they portray snakes. We also want to do podcasts with people who are not snake experts but through their work or recreational pursuits come into frequent contact with snakes. In episode 10, we interview Zack Dalton who is Director of Sales for the fly fishing giants, Sage, Redington, and Rio Products. In all his years of fly fishing around the world and growing up in the deserts of Idaho he has many snake stories to tell. We talk about how people in the fly fishing community general feel towards snakes, talk about Rubber Boas, and he tells a great story about encountering a rattlesnake in a canyon while fishing. These types of episodes are important moving forward, as they may draw an audience outside of the people that already have an interest in snakes.

One of the topics the Snake Talk podcast is going to cover throughout the years is field herping. Most people have a picture in their head when they think about people who go birding, well, field herping is the same, it is just with reptiles and amphibians. There

Episode 11: Snake Wrangling for the Walking Dead with Kim Mross. Courtesy: Kim Mross.

Episode 13: Snakes of the Intermountain West with Dr. Charles Peterson. Courtesy: Dr. Charles Peterson.

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Indigomagazine “Snake Talk is our effort to conserve snakes by using strategically developed media to raise awareness of snakes.

While we are working towards being one of the leaders in this space, we are certainly not the only one out there working to provide education on snakes. “

is a rapidly growing group of people who spend their recreational time out in nature looking for reptiles and amphibians. Spinning off from field herping, many people engaging in the activity are getting into photography, recording data, and taking natural history notes. We kick off our focus on field herping as a topic by discussing field herping ethics with Houston Chandler and Kiley Briggs, Orianne’s Director of Science and Turtle Conservation Coordinator, respectively. Field herping

is much different than birding in that in most cases you can pick up the reptile or amphibian you find whereas that is usually not possible with birds. This key difference raises the chances of field herping having a negative impact on the animals. In our ethics discussion, we cover a wide range of topics from the potential stress of physically handling the animals, the potential impacts to microhabitats as people search, and others concerns such as disease. I see the growing interest in field herping as a very

Episode 14: Using Social Interactions of Snakes to Achieve Conservation with Melissa Amarello. Courtesy: Melissa Amarrello

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good thing for reptiles and amphibians, but I do think it is critical for everyone to think about these ethical issues and field herp in a way that minimizes the impacts to the animals and habitat. In episode 8 of the podcast, we talk with the first of many field herpers, Noah Fields.

Noah has been field herping most of his life and does it as a lifestyle getting out almost every day and making his living off of the YouTube videos he produces.

Noah and I discuss field herping in Georgia, from finding salamanders and Timber Rattlesnakes in the mountains to Gopher Tortoises and indigo snakes in the coastal plain. We also discuss Noah’s adventures in West Texas looking for species such as Gray Banded Kingsnakes and Rock Rattlesnakes.

I have been really excited to see the response and following the Snake Talk podcast has received. I plan to keep producing top quality content by interviewing the world’s experts in snakes and the issue surrounding them.

Plans are in the works to talk with some of the world’s top research biologists, conservation biologists, field herpers, and topic experts. In addition to building on the themes we have already started, we want to diversify the species and geographies that the podcast highlights - apologies to our audience, but as most of you know I am a huge viper and in particular rattlesnake fan. We would also like to bring in more guests that are not snake experts but their work or recreation brings them in contact with snakes.

Indigomagazine For example, I would love to interview gardening or hunting experts about their fields and how they intersect with snakes.

Some issues may be controversial such as legal snake hunting and snake handling churches, I am going to focus some episodes on topics like this in the future.

The other direction we really want the podcast to grow into is more focus on current events. I am always keeping an eye on snakes in the media and news and we want to be responsive to important issues that come up. As we see popular snake related media, we plan to start getting guests on quickly to discuss those topics. So there is an endless stream of content planned for the future but I want to hear from you! Reach out to us at info@oriannesociety.org and suggest podcast topics or specific guests and we will do our best to get them on.

I have spent most of this article talking about the podcast but Snake Talk is a much bigger idea that goes beyond the podcast. The concept of Snake Talk is to help raise awareness of snakes and the podcast is one tool to help achieve that. In the upcoming years we plan to add to that toolbox. Each summer I spend time in the field monitoring Timber Rattlesnakes in the Appalachian Highlands. During those summer months we will be producing a constant stream of social media and YouTube content on Timber Rattlesnakes. The rest of the year, we will be producing content on snake facts that educates on natural history and ecology, dispels myths, and highlights current issues. Finally, we will also be planning at least one but in most years multiple trips to exotic regions to see amazing snakes. While on these adventures I will produce a series of content as well as short films. Similar to podcast ideas, we want to hear from you, tell us what media products would help raise awareness of snakes.

Episode 15: Serpent Handling with Julie Duin. Courtesy: Julie Duin.

Snake Talk is our effort to conserve snakes by using strategically developed media to raise awareness of snakes.

While we are working towards being one of the leaders in this space, we are certainly not the only one out there working to provide education on snakes.

There are so many partners including other nonprofits, agencies, and nature centers that are working to change how humans think about snakes. I encourage everyone to follow along as Snake Talk grows. I hope you enjoy all the content we produce but make sure to pass the content and the messages on. Snake Talk will only succeed if we all begin to work together to magnify these messages. I am optimistic about the future; people are changing how they view snakes but there is so much more to do. Become part of the Snake Talk movement and

make the world a better place for snakes where you live. You can find all the episodes of Snake Talk at https://www. oriannesociety.org/initiatives/snaketalk/ or follow #SnakeTalk on your social media to see facts about snakes and find out when new podcasts are available for download.

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Indigomagazine

The challenges of reptile conservation in Great Britain

by Steven Allain

Despite the fact that Britain is known for its history of amateur naturalists and as being a nation of wildlife lovers, there are still a number of challenges that face those us of working in reptile conservation. One of the growing problems is that people are becoming more and more disconnected from nature due to a loss of green open spaces where they can experience nature firsthand. If the general public aren’t aware of the importance of nature and its value, then how can we expect them to fight for it? There is a taxonomic bias in views held by the general public and this also influences how much knowledge they have about those groups with birds and mammals being the highest ranking.

This in itself is interesting as a number of the mammal species that the general public think of so fondly such as the grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) and the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are not native, yet they are generally seen in a positive light. With this in mind, how can we get the British general public to care

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more about native species and fight in their corner – especially reptiles?

What’s up with reptiles?

First of all we have to define what a native species is. Due to the events during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), most of Britain and all of Ireland was covered in an ice sheet some 2 km thick.

It wasn’t St. Patrick that drove the snakes out of Ireland, it’s very likely that they never made it that far due to this barrier.

The ice started to recede approximately 15,000 years ago with Britain becoming an island approximately 10,000 years ago.

Therefore any species that were able to get a foothold and establish during this time can be classed as native. However, there are some species such as birds and insects that can move via their own agency and may have colonised since this time. In regards to the herpetofauna of Great Britain, the impenetrable fortress of ice covering most of England, Scotland and Wales meant that only a small number of species were able to colonise this harsh landscape. You

won’t be surprised to know that the herpetofauna found here are some of the most cold tolerant species found in northern Europe, being very similar to that found in Sweden.

One of the biggest surprises I often encounter when I communicate my research and its importance with members of the public is the shock and disbelief. This is caused by informing them that we have lizards and snakes present in the wild in Britain. Many residents will not have seen them as some species are rare or cryptic, being restricted to only a handful of sites.

Everyone (generally speaking) may have seen a newt or a frog but not necessarily a lizard or a snake. Some of the initial likely shock comes from the fact that people imagine an iguana or chameleon when you use the mention lizards. We certainly do not have those running around in the wild! Without positive experiences of reptiles, the public seek their information and opinions from the media and friends.

Indigomagazine

“One of the growing problems is that people are becoming more and more disconnected from nature due to a loss of green open spaces where they can experience nature first-hand.�

Barred Grass Snake. Photo: Steven Allain

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Indigomagazine

Adder. Photo: Steven Allain

An introduction to the species In Britain we are blessed with an equal ratio of lizards and snakes, three species of each (which makes them easy to remember). The conservation status of these species varies but also depends on which part of the country you are in.

Sand Lizards (Lacerta agilis) and Smooth Snakes (Coronella austriaca) are our rarest reptiles which are currently restricted to a handful of sites. Conservation efforts are currently underway to help reintroduce these animals to former areas where they were recorded, but this effort has been hampered by the loss of that habitat or its degradation. Interestingly these two species along with the Barred Grass Snake (Natrix helvetica) are the only reptiles present in Britain that lay eggs.

In the other three species, the young develop internally which is an adaptation to cooler climates.

The Adder (Vipera berus) is the only venomous snake found in Britain and unfortunately, because of this they are often persecuted as they are seen as a 30 ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG WINTER 2021

hazard to both livestock and people. This viewpoint couldn’t be further from the truth, their venom isn’t particularly potent and antivenoms are readily available should someone be envenomated. This is an unlikely occurrence as adders tend to shy away from disturbance and bites tend to happen when people accidentally step on them when exploring the countryside.

Cases of envenomation and subsequent fatality in humans are exceptionally rare in Great Britain. There have been 14 recorded human deaths from adder bites since 1876 with the last being in 1975.

As with most venomous snakes, there is an increased risk of being bitten when seeking conflict with them, so it is best to leave them alone and let them be. Adders feed primarily on small mammals so they are great pest controllers, consuming prey, which are often seen as vermin. It is a wonder that snakes are natural pest controllers! If only more people saw them that way. Unfortunately research has shown that adders are in bad trouble, with most populations likely to be extinct within 20 years.

The Barred Grass Snake is the longest species of snake found in Britain, growing up to 1.8 m in length although individuals rarely reach that size, you’re more typically likely to find snakes that are only 1 m in length. Barred Grass Snakes are usually associated with water as they feed on amphibians; grass snakes are fantastic swimmers and they are species of snakes that the general public are most likely to encounter. They’re widespread, locally common and can sometimes be found in gardens where they lay their eggs in compost heaps.

Unfortunately grass snakes are sometimes persecuted as they’re mistaken for Adders, if a snake is venomous it has to be large right? Adders grow to around 60 cm in length and are a lot more heavily built than their semi-aquatic cousins. All of this is confounded by the fact that it is illegal to harm or disturb either species under the 1981 Wildlife & Countryside Act (alongside all our reptile species).

The final two reptile species are both lizards, these are the Viviparous or Common Lizard (Zootoca vivipara) and the Slow Worm (Anguis fragilis). As you may have guessed, slow worms are not worms and let me tell you that they aren’t slow either! They are a species of legless lizard that can sometimes be mistaken for snakes although they can be quite secretive as they live underground.

Both species give birth to live young and again are the two species likely to be encountered by the public. Viviparous Lizards grow to 12 cm (excluding the tail) being the smallest reptile species on our shores. Due to their morphology, they are sometimes confused for newts. I always point out to arachnophobes that these fast little animals love feasting on spiders, so the more of them there are around the better the local spider population is under control! Slow Worms grow to 30 cm or more and are known as the ‘gardener’s friend’ due to their love of feeding on slugs. Yet another reason to help out our scaly friends.

Indigomagazine The threats Habitat loss and fragmentation are two of the real drivers of declines in our herpetofauna and particularly within the reptiles. Reptiles usually require specialised habitat such as heathland or sand dunes and with a growing population and limited space, it is people that often take priority. This often leads to smaller and more isolated populations of individuals which may then suffer from the effects of inbreeding, due to the lack of any genetic flow. After a few generations, this can create further localised extinctions which only makes reptiles rarer and decreases the likelihood that people will be able to enjoy them in the wild. The inbreeding of populations also makes reptiles more susceptible to the effects of climate change and to emerging infectious diseases, which act further reduce populations. The effects of these are not currently known with research ongoing to establish the level of threat posed not just to British populations but European ones. With Britain being an island nation, reptiles from populations on the continent can’t recolonise following such extinctions further complicating matters.

The solution Given that quick crash course in British reptiles and the problems they face, it is easy to see how science communication can help in increasing engagement with the general public and hopefully help increase positive attitudes towards them.

Recent events haven’t made this easy to do in person, before the pandemic I would often show people snakes and lizards in their local environment and why they were important. Nothing beats first-hand experience. Now however this communication is completed online in the form of blog posts, videos and infographics. It is important to plan the narrative you wish to use in order to provide the maximum impact from such efforts. As previously mentioned,

Slow Worm. Photo: Steven Allain

Viviparous or Common Lizard. Photo: Steven Allain

explaining the services that reptiles provide and how these can benefit people are key to changing the public’s perceptions. It can be hard to break down these preconceived notions but it is possible.

An abundance of snakes or lizards is not something to panic about, despite the fact that some people may be phobic and believe so. In fact, it is a sign of a healthy ecosystem and is something that should be celebrated, large populations are becoming increasingly rare. It is important to think about the effects of fragmentation when planning any conservation interventions, taking into account management at the landscape

scale that benefits your target species and its habitat. An example of this would be to create corridors whilst restoring habitat, so reptiles (and other animals) can move between neighbouring sites in order to find new mates and exploit different resources. The other aspect to consider is how you can involve local people in such projects to give them the experiences they need to champion reptiles in the future. This may be something as simple as inviting them to volunteer on habitat management days or to be involved with monitoring (when not working with sensitive species).

These species were here long before we were and we can all coexist, as long as we understand their needs.

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Turtle conservation post card. Credit Emilie Wilder.

Talking Turtles: Local Conservation Through Community Outreach

by Matthew Kamm

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Indigomagazine It’s 10:00 pm on a quiet suburban street less than a mile from Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, Massachusetts. While many of the residents are winding down for the evening and settling in for a good night’s rest, a small group of people outside are only just beginning their night’s work.

With headlamps, binoculars, and radio antennas, they fan out quietly to scour the dark driveways and gardens for their quarry. Roaming a sleepy suburban neighborhood with flashlights and surveillance equipment might seem like a patently suspicious course of action, but fortunately, these evening wanderers are well-known to the neighborhood: they are the employees, interns, and volunteers of Zoo New England’s Conservation Department, and their mission is to protect turtle nests.

Indeed, as the night wears on, the Conservation team discovers they are not the only ones out and about that evening.

Blanding’s Turtles (Emydoidea blandingii), a Threatened species in Massachusetts, are roving across the well-manicured lawns, gravel driveways, and carefully-mulched flower beds looking for just the right sort of soil to dig their nests. Some of these turtles may not finish nesting - or even decide whether they are nesting at all - until well after midnight. Many of the turtles carry radio transmitters on their shells, which allow the zoo staff members to track them every night to ensure that they find most of the nests.

Once a turtle is located roaming around potential nesting habitat, a staff member stays nearby, patiently monitoring the turtle from a discreet distance. If the turtle is on private property - a frequent occurrence in this mostly suburban area the ZNE biologist must ring the doorbell to get permission to access the property and wait there until the turtle mom is done laying her eggs. Since the egg laying

“The Great Meadows population of Blanding’s Turtles is one of the largest remaining in New England, despite the fact that there are currently only about 50 adults residing in wetlands in and around the wildlife refuge.” process takes individual turtles at least 2 hours to finish, the biologists do a great deal of sitting in cars, tiptoeing around yards, and crouching quietly in people’s driveways at unseemly hours. Mercifully, the team’s commitment to outreach and communication has transformed awkward trespassing into welcome visitation.

“We’ve certainly had the cops called on us,” says Cara McElroy, a biologist with Zoo New England and regular turtle nest surveyor. “But after so many years of working in these neighborhoods, speaking and working with the residents to find and protect turtle nests, pretty much everybody here knows about our project and most folks are tremendously supportive of it. In fact, I don’t ever recall having a homeowner tell us that we could not track the turtles and protect nests on their property here at Great Meadows.” For several years, the Zoo New England team has been sending out “Have You Seen this Turtle?” postcards to residents in neighborhoods surrounding turtle conservation sites, especially in areas where turtles might nest. The postcards alert neighbors to the team’s nightly presence, and include a phone number - the Turtle Hotline - to call if they spot a turtle. “We get a lot of excited calls from people who have

a painted turtle that they’re convinced is a Blanding’s Turtle, but it’s still a great connection. They’re thrilled to learn about turtle ID, and we get one more person who’s looking out for turtles.” Additionally, as a thank-you to homeowners, Zoo New England and the New England Aquarium, a partner in the project, donate free passes to their institutions to the homeowners that host a turtle nest. The turtles, and the project, have become famous in the neighborhood, and residents feel a sense of pride to be part of this local rare species conservation effort.

A Population in Decline The Great Meadows population of Blanding’s Turtles is one of the largest remaining in New England, despite the fact that there are currently only about 50 adults residing in wetlands in and around the wildlife refuge. Blanding’s Turtles numbers have declined sharply in recent decades throughout almost all of their range, which extends from Nebraska to Nova Scotia. The reasons for this decline are clearly linked to the urbanization and growth of the region’s human population. In suburban areas, Blanding’s Turtles are often killed on roads as they move between wetlands or wander in search of nesting areas.

More insidiously, it appears that very few

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Indigomagazine are rarely killed by cars, and, in general, have mortality levels at least as low as those reported for other more rural populations.

Blanding’s Turtle. Credit: Emilie Wilder

suburban Blanding’s Turtles survive from egg to adulthood, which takes at least 16-17 years in Massachusetts. The poor rates of “recruitment” of new turtles into the ranks of adults likely derives from a combination of indirect humaninfluenced changes, including the loss of the very specific permanently-flooded, densely-vegetated marsh habitat that young turtles depend upon as well as the increase in abundance, over decades, of the mammal species that eat turtle eggs and hatchlings, such as raccoons, chipmunks, and foxes.

Zoo New England’s Director of Conservation, Dr. Bryan Windmiller, lives near the site and he and his wife chose to buy a home in the area in 1992 partly because of the resident Blanding’s Turtle population. “I knew a good deal about this critically important turtle population before I moved to Concord, thanks to my friend, turtle biologist Brian Butler of Oxbow Associates” says Windmiller. “Brian Butler and others, led by Dr. Terry Graham (formerly of Framingham State University) studied these turtles in the 1970’s and, from looking for nesting turtles after I moved to the area, I had a pretty good hunch that the population had declined a lot 34 ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG WINTER 2021

since then.”

So, starting in 2003, Windmiller and colleagues began working with US Fish and Wildlife Service biologists to monitor the Great Meadows Blanding’s Turtle population. After a few years of intensive trapping efforts, he was able to estimate that there were no more than 50 Blanding’s Turtles in the Great Meadows refuge itself at any time and there were probably only a handful of additional adults in nearby wetlands. Windmiller was correct about the decline but, as he notes, his initial guess about the likely reason for the decline was wrong. “I had expected to find that many juvenile and adult turtles were killed by cars on the busy roads near the refuge. So, I thought that we’d see high mortality rates for the older turtles and more males than females, since the mother turtles are more exposed to car traffic when they wander in search of nesting areas.”

Over the course of radiotracking more than 170 individual adult and juvenile Blanding’s Turtles, some for more than 15 continuous years, Windmiller and his colleagues have discovered that there are at least as many adult female as male Blanding’s Turtles at Great Meadows.

Furthermore, the turtles live long lives,

“In the early 2000’s, almost all of the adult female Blanding’s Turtles that we caught at Great Meadows were individuals that were at least 50 or 60 years old”, says Windmiller. In fact, of the 40 individual Blanding’s Turtles that he and his team captured before 2010, only four were less than 20 years of age - most were likely over 50. “The problem was that this was a geriatric population.

Although adults lived a long time, older turtles, like older humans, are more likely to die during any given year than younger adults. And there were very few teenagers in the population to replace the old individuals as they died.” Left on their own, Windmiller and the USFWS biologists concluded, the Great Meadows population would likely continue a slow but inevitable decline.

“I’m a herpetologist,” says Bryan, “and I used to work as a consulting wildlife ecologist, giving me the chance to see all these wonderful populations of rare salamanders, turtles, and frogs just before those populations were trashed by new housing developments, golf courses, schools, what have you. These Blanding’s Turtles are my neighbors, some of them nest less than 100 yards from my house. There was no way that I was just going to watch this population disappear.” So, Windmiller, working with both state and federal biologists, started intervening early on in the project to protect Blanding’s Turtle nests by simply anchoring a square of metal hardware cloth mesh over the nests to keep out predators and working with local farmers to make sure that nests in farm fields were not unintentionally plowed up. Simply by protecting the nests from predators and inadvertent human

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“Every September, there are students around Massachusetts eagerly awaiting the arrival of “their” turtle hatchlings.

They’ve heard about the turtles in the school cafeteria, or the playground, or perhaps from an older sibling - and this year it’s finally their turn. ” destruction probably boosts the odds of the turtle eggs surviving to hatch by 3 or 4 times.

Still, Windmiller and his colleagues wanted to do even more to bolster recruitment at the Great Meadows population. Following in the footsteps of Massachusetts’ Northern Redbellied Cooter headstarting program, Windmiller, together with Dr. Stephanie Koch of USFWS, initiated a Blanding’s Turtle headstarting program at Great Meadows. Headstarting, or taking young turtles into captivity and keeping them safe and well fed for their first year of life, can significantly improve their chances of surviving to adulthood by protecting their most vulnerable lifestage. Because the mortality rate for young turtles is so high, and the turtles take so long to reach maturity, though, one needs to headstart a large number of turtles to have any effect on the population. Small-scale headstarting with volunteers and staff as a proof of concept worked well, but once the protocols were in place, it was clear that many more hands would be needed.

Kids and Conservation Every September, there are students around Massachusetts eagerly awaiting the arrival of “their” turtle hatchlings.

They’ve heard about the turtles in the school cafeteria, or the playground, or perhaps from an older sibling - and this year it’s finally their turn. No, they won’t be getting a turtle as a pet. Their grade is participating in H.A.T.C.H: Hatchling and Turtle Conservation through headstarting. What started as a simple

strategy to headstart more turtles has morphed into a core rite of passage for students at dozens of schools in the state.

“We didn’t originally intend to start working with schools,” explains Emilie Wilder, ZNE’s Grassroots Wildlife Conservation Program Manager, who has been working with Windmiller since 2013. “Bryan had noticed the really low juvenile recruitment, and wanted to try headstarting as one possible solution.

But back in 2009, he didn’t have any kind of facility to raise them.” At the time, Windmiller was running the project out of his home. Zoo New England, a partner at the time, could accommodate 10 turtles per year as could the New England Aquarium but, to be effective, Bryan and colleagues wanted to raise more turtles than those institutions could take on. “Partnering with his daughter’s school in Concord (MA) seemed like a logical step, and more than that, it gave kids a really great opportunity to feel empowered as young conservationists.”

Fortunately, when it comes to taking care of baby animals, help is seldom hard to find.

Blanding’s Turtle hatchling (left) and 1 year old headstarted turtle (right) compared to the size of a quarter. Credit: Emilie Wilder

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Indigomagazine participate. At the same time, Windmiller and colleagues continued to monitor the population, including the newly released headstarted turtles, and observed encouraging survival trends. The small nonprofit also continued to grow, hiring new employees and expanding to work with other Blanding’s Turtle populations at other sites, as well as with other rare species such as Eastern Spadefoot Toads, bridle shiner fish, and rare wildflowers.

One of the original board members was Dr. Eric Baitchman, a veterinarian and now Vice President of Animal Health and Conservation at Zoo New England. Baitchman and Zoo New England President John Linehan were sufficiently impressed by the work of Grassroots Wildlife Conservation that they invited Windmiller and his team at GWC to merge their non-profit into the Zoo and to thus become the Zoo’s new Conservation Department, a merger which was completed in 2017. Today, Zoo New England’s conservation team works with four rare species of turtles, as well as rare amphibians, wildflowers, fish, and insects at more than a dozen field sites in eastern Massachusetts. They also oversee the Zoo’s growing international conservation programs.

A young conservationist in-training. Credit: Emilie Wilder

Originally, the program started in just a few schools in the communities surrounding Great Meadows. The students and teachers loved it, and it became an integral part of the school curriculum. Every year students would look forward to their turn raising turtles.

“When our class got to take care of the young Blanding’s Turtles, it was one of the most fun and exciting things that I have ever done at school,” says Kyle, 36 ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG WINTER 2021

a fifth grader in Carlisle. “If I was ever offered the chance to do it again I would totally do it!” Kyle is now a junior in high school, but there is a new crop of Carlisle fifth graders who are anxiously awaiting the arrival of this year’s turtles along with 3rd - 12th graders at many other schools.

Every year, the program continued to grow: through word-of-mouth buzz, more and more schools asked to

In 2019, Zoo New England Conservation staff oversaw the headstarting of nearly 180 hatchling Blanding’s Turtles, Wood Turtles, Eastern Box Turtles, and Common Snapping Turtles in nearly 40 different schools as well as several different partner institutions. The participating classrooms don’t just get an aquarium with some interesting critters, either - they also receive a curriculum of in-class presentations and supplementary materials created by the Conservation staff, drawing on the best available science, about how turtles hatch, grow up, survive the winter, make their living, and have little turtles of their own in the wild. The students become invested in their turtles’ health and well-being,

Indigomagazine choosing names for their new classroom companions and taking turns assisting with the turtles’ feeding and regular weigh-ins. Through the students’ interest in the turtles, the program nurtures a greater interest in conservation and the natural world more broadly. Tina Morris, a teacher who has worked with the program for over a decade explained it thus: “Caring for animals is rewarding for children, but caring for animals that are in danger and need their help teaches them a lesson that mere textbooks and lectures cannot. The kids become protective of their charges, and feel both a sense of loss and accomplishment as they release the young turtles back into the marsh in the spring. [H.A.T.C.H.] is citizen science at its best, for it connects students to their environment in a real way and empowers young biologists to realize they can make a difference.”

The capstone of the H.A.T.C.H. program is the turtle release field trip. Since every turtle hatchling comes from a wetland local to their headstart school, staff take the students out to see the turtles’ natural habitats. By this time, with the lessons from ZNE herpetologists, the kids are well-informed about what the turtles will eat and how they will live in the wild. With guidance, the students have offered their turtles live prey so that they can get used to hunting on their own.

Once they actually experience the turtles’ future homes, the continued questions and interest flow naturally. What kinds of predators live here? (Herons, raccoons, otters, mink, and more) How long will our turtles live here? (Maybe for their whole lives! Or maybe they will choose to move somewhere else!) Will the turtles recognize each other in the wild? (We’re really not sure!) Even as COVID-19 forced many schools to close at the end of the 2020 school year, ZNE has adapted the plan to give students “virtual” field trips.

The H.A.T.C.H. program has been a tremendous success so far. Every year since inception has expanded the number of schools and classrooms participating, and thanks to generous grants from the Disney Conservation Fund, Yawkey Foundation, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services, ZNE staff have been able to bring the H.A.T.C.H. program to schools in underserved communities, engaging with students in urban neighborhoods which often have fewer opportunities for hands-on outdoor education. We have heard from “graduates” of our program that their experience motivated their choice of college major or career interest, and we recently had one former HATCH student come back and work with us in the field through a college internship program.

In 2020, an urban population of Spotted Turtles (Clemmys guttata) inside the Boston city limits has become the focus of a new population-wide study. ZNE staff have identified and marked more than 80 Students on their turtle release field trip. This class made “We made a difference” shirts for themselves to celebrate the occasion.

Credit: Emilie Wilder

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Indigomagazine 100 turtles at 10 different sites around the state, studying movement patterns, habitat use, growth rates, and survival.

The data they collect help inform habitat restoration efforts and community outreach.

An old farm field seeded with native wildflowers. Early sunflower (Helianthus helianthoides) is the quickest to germinate, making for a sea of yellow this season. Credit: Emilie Wilder

individual turtles in this population and protected the organization’s first nest of spotted turtle eggs. The hatchlings from that nest are being headstarted as this article goes to press, and with any luck, will allow for these charismatic native urban turtles to become the new ambassadors to urban classrooms.

Over time, the school headstarting program has also expanded beyond turtles. ZNE has worked on a reintroduction of Marbled Salamanders (a Threatened species in Massachusetts) into the Middlesex Fells, where they had historically bred, and partnered with the high schools in the towns surrounding the Fells to headstart some of the larvae before release. These high schools are within walking distance of the Fells, so being able to involve the students in a conservation effort happening in their own “backyard” has been a fantastic experience. Watching the salamander larvae eat, grow, and metamorphose provided rich opportunities for

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classroom discussion of amphibian biology and local freshwater ecology.

These schools have incorporated the salamanders into their biology curriculum, and one school even does a school-wide event in the Fells every spring where students rove between stations learning about the ecology and history of this urban park.

Outreach Grounded in Conservation Headstarting can be a great tool for getting more juveniles into a population, but for long-lived species like turtles, adult survival is often the biggest conservation issue. Adult animals tend to be much more difficult to protect than young animals are to raise, but once mature, an adult Blanding’s turtle may fertilize or lay hundreds of eggs over the course of its lifetime, making each mature adult incredibly important. That’s why ZNE Conservation staff are also undertaking projects to monitor and protect adult turtles and their habitat.

This year, ZNE is radiotracking about

Radiotracking adult turtles has led to several interesting discoveries about their lives and habits in human-modified landscapes. At Borderland State Park, another priority Blanding’s Turtle habitat, turtles are forced to leave the densely forested park in search of open nesting grounds, exposing them to the danger of vehicle strikes. Armed with this information on their movement patterns, ZNE is working with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the managers of the park, to create nesting habitat within the park boundary. Similarly, in Dunstable, MA, the site of the northernmost population of eastern box turtles in the state, ZNE worked with multiple landowners and partners to create a 3-acre clearcut area within the town forest to provide muchneeded foraging and nesting habitat for that population. Convincing conservation groups to cut down forest can sometimes be a hard sell, so having clear data to back up an argument is crucial. In addition, ZNE biologists are always looking for ways to make a project benefit multiple species, rather than just a single focal species. So, with the Dunstable clearcut, ZNE and its local partners aim to improve habitat for the declining eastern whip-poor-will (Caprimulgus vociferus), as well as to plant sandplain-adapted native wildflowers and grasses to improve habitat for pollinators.

In addition to radiotracking adults and observing their habitat needs, ZNE also carefully monitors headstarted juveniles post-release, not only to follow their progress and assess the impact of the headstarting program, but also to better understand how their habitat

Indigomagazine use and needs different from those of adults. Adult turtles are usually much easier to find - their larger size and movement patterns make them easier to spot visually, and they are more likely to be caught in traps. Given the paucity of data in the literature about the movements and habitat needs of wild juvenile turtles, studying released headstarted turtles has been critical to the conservation program. For example, at Great Meadows, ZNE biologists have made over 650 observations of nearly 150 headstarted turtles post-release, and discovered that they favor dense scrubshrub habitat dominated by buttonbush

(Cephalanthus occidentalis) and sweet gale (Myrica gale). Currently, only about 2% of the wetlands available to Blanding’s Turtles at Great Meadows consists of such habitat. To remedy the situation, ZNE has embarked upon a program intended to increase this scrub-shrub habitat by about 25% and to develop cost-effective methods for such habitat restoration on a larger scale.

Habitat restoration is also often a great way to involve the community in the conservation work. “It takes a fairly dedicated - and fit - volunteer to don waders and trek out into a waist-

deep swamp in search of turtles. But anyone with a bit of patience can help grow plants,” says Windmiller. ZNE partners with Eastern Connecticut State University, the Arnold Arboretum, local garden clubs, and many private citizens to raise plants for their habitat restoration projects. Some of ZNE’s partners also come out into the field and help install the plants they grew, scatter seeds, or remove invasives. Others sign up to monitor sites during drought times and hand water plants that are just getting established. As the saying goes, many hands make light work.

A protected Blanding’s Turtle nest in someone’s flower bed. Credit: Emilie Wilder

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Indigomagazine A vision of conservation optimism It’s so easy to feel hopeless about wildlife conservation. We are constantly bombarded with news stories about the latest environmental catastrophe - the burning of the rainforest, the loss of species, the warming climate. The list seems endless. And yet, there is reason to hope.

All of Zoo New England’s conservation projects stems from three main conclusions about the nature of biodiversity conservation in the 21st Century: • An ever-increasing percentage of all rare animal and plant populations occur in landscapes heavily used by humans.

• Many rare species populations will only persist in the long-term with some measure of active, intentional human intervention.

• An informed and engaged local human community is often the best single determinant of long-term conservation success for rare species.

In spite of what he hears on the news, Windmiller holds a great deal of hope for the future: “Despite our own location amidst the ‘Megalopolis’ of the northeastern United States, we are optimistic that even here, in eastern Massachusetts, concerned humans have the ability to not only stems the loss of our natural heritage but to work successfully towards restoring at least some of the biological diversity and abundance that we have eroded in the fairly recent past.” He holds up the work of ZNE as proof. Every year, over 3,000 school children raise rare turtles, frogs, and salamanders in their classrooms and learn about the importance of the wetlands and forests in their own communities. They, together with many other volunteers and partner organizations, are making a difference for these rare species. There also appears to be a large appetite for more conservation 40 ORIANNESOCIETY.ORG WINTER 2021

Top: Explaining how radiotracking works. People are very curious about these strange devices, so our nest surveys are perfect opportunities to share with people about turtle conservation. Photo by Masao Okano. Above: Volunteers help prepare a site to plant the rare New England Blazing Star. Credit: Emilie Wilder.

programs like this. Every year, there are more schools interested in participating in H.A.T.C.H. than there are turtles to headstart. “I’m always surprised by how much interest there is in this,” Emilie Wilder says. “I get calls sometimes from schools in Connecticut or New Hampshire, asking if they can get involved. Unfortunately, we usually can’t transport these animals across state lines, and even if we could, it would defeat our concept of local people being involved in local conservation.”

“We focus on making progress in wildlife conservation - not just slowing the rate of loss,” says Windmiller. “Rather than preach gloom and doom, we show people that they can be part of the solution.

There is nature to preserve everywhere-including, likely, your own backyard.

Think globally, but act locally.”

To find out more, please visit zoonewengland.org/gwc

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A Blanding’s turtle females scoping the neighborhood for a suitable nesting area. Residents helped put up “Turtle Xing” signs to alert neighbors and visitors to keep an eye out. Credit: Emilie Wilder

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1

A FIELD

6

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photos

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1.Monty Morris

5

Green Anole

2.Bryce Wade Red-cheeked Salamander

3.Bryanna Zachary Rough Greensnake

4.Jason Berard Wood Turtle

5.Kevin Hutcheson Blind Salamander

6.oLIVIA tHOMAS Scarlet Kingsnake

7.Parker Gibbons Carolina Pygmy Rattlesnake

8.Jasmin Williamson Red-legged Salamander

9.Gina Aderholdt Brown Watersnake

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THANK YOU

To our 2020 Corporate Sponsors

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Right: Orianne staff member with Gopher Tortoise. Credit: Ben Stegenga

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Eastern Indigo Snake. Credit: Pete Oxford

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Front Cover: Tracy Karplus. Back Cover: Heidi Hall

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