Abstract
ABSTRACr.-From late May to mid-September 1982 we investigated habitat selection by black rat snakes (Elaphe o. obsoleta) at the Queen's University Biological Station in eastern Ontario. We implanted radio transmitters in 4 male and 3 female snakes and used their daily positions as habitat sampling points. We also sampled the available habitat using randomly selected points. We located the snakes 472 times (>90% success) which produced 107 habitat sample points. All snake sample points were separated into active or inactive based on the length of time the snake remained in that position (less than or greater than 7 days, respectively). During the bird breeding season black rat snakes showed a preference for field habitat although in both the field and deciduous forest the snake points were significantly clustered along the habitat interface. Following the bird breeding season, field and deciduous forest habitats were used in proportion to their availability and the preference for the ecotone was no longer found in field samples. We found only limited evidence of non-random habitat use within habitats with regard to both plant species composition and vegetation structure. Inactive sites were diverse but all were located on the forest-field interface, had open exposure to direct sun and provided shelter for the snakes. We suggest from these results that ideal habitat for black rat snakes is a small scale mosaic of field and forest and that their disappearance from other parts of their range in Canada may be related to the disappearance of such mosaics due to land clearing for agriculture.
Published Version
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