Analysis of Homing Pattern in the Colubrid Snake Coluber viridiflavus

Abstract

Movements performed by eleven specimens of Coluber viridiflavus were recorded for two years in a hilly area of central Italy. Each snake homed to a primary shelter after each excursion. The primary shelter was also used as a hibernaculum. Excursions could be classified in three ways: simple loops lasting only one day, complex loops lasting two or more days and characterized by the use of sec- ondary shelters, and large loops lasting up to about one month and having a total length up to 3 km. The three kinds of excursions were related to distinct functions. Simple loops were performed almost exclu- sively to reach basking sites; complex loops were exploratory trips, probably related to foraging; exceptional excursions were related to reproductive activity. Males were generally more mobile than females. Their home ranges were larger than those of the females (0.17 ? 0.06 ha and 0.05 ? 0.01 ha, respectively) as regards the core area (minimum convex polygon enclosing all the positions recorded during simple loops); the outer area (polygon enclosing all the fixes recorded during complex loops) was about the same size in both sexes (0.99 ? 0.01 ha in the males and 0.95 ? 0.31 ha in the females, respectively).