Bullsnake Home Range

The Bullsnake, Pituophis catenifer sayi.
Home range studies of snakes often look at the available habitat, the size, gender, diet, and ecology of the snake. J. M. Kapfer and colleagues looked at snake home ranges using a different lens. They examined snake home ranges in terms of the quality of its habitats. Using a population of Bullsnakes, Pituophis catenifer sayi, in southwestern Wisconsin. Habitats available to the snakes included agricultural row crop, pasture, agricultural pond, mowed lawn, roadside grass, open grassland, oak savanna, open bluff side, bluff forest, flatland closed canopy forest, and edge habitat. Their results showed that the amount of avoided habitat directly influenced home range size. Radiotracked snakes that used low quality habitats (agricultural row crops and closed canopy forests) often died. Snakes were also able to take advantage of small changes in habitat, one male snake that avoided a pine plantation, used an area of it that was cleared during the study.As snakes increase their home ranges to avoid unsuitable or low quality habitats, they move more and increase the risk of mortality.

Kapfer, J. M. C. W. Parker, D. M. Reineke, J. R. Coggins, and R. Hay. 2010. Modeling the relationship between habitat preferences and home-range size: a case study on a large mobile colubrid snake from North America. Journal of Zoology 282:13-20.