Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 15:10:45 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Tom Stock Subject: Re: Snakes vs. Birds? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit While counting butterflies at Little Bennett Regional Park on Saturday the 28th of June, I and another counter chased a black rat snake off a catbird nest. The snake had already taken at least one nestling judging from the lump in its throat. Why did we do it? Prejudice, pure and simple. We liked birds better than snakes. Which is not to say I would have killed the snake. That's going way too far. (Then again, if I came upon a snake raiding, say, a red-cockaded woodpecker nest hole, or the nest of some other endangered species, I might consider killing the varmint...) Tom Stock Silver Spring PS 25 species of butterflies at Little Bennett, along with several nice birds - the best being yellow-throated vireo, ovenbird, chat, and nesting bluebirds. Missed Kentucky warbler, which I usually see or hear on this count... In a message dated 7/8/2003 9:42:08 AM Eastern Standard Time, Denise_Ryan@LCV.ORG writes: > > I didn't have anything to do with dispatching the snake myself - the story > was told after the fact. Your point is well taken - relocating to another > place on the property would have been a better choice. > > However, I would prefer to deter snakes from eating bird eggs in nesting > boxes by using metal guards. I'm sure there are other sources of food they > can find. > > Denise Ryan > Washington, DC > > -----Original Message----- > From: Marko, Thomas L. GS BUMED [mailto:TLMarko@US.MED.NAVY.MIL] > Sent: Monday, July 07, 2003 7:56 PM > To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM > Subject: [MDOSPREY] Snakes vs. Birds? > > > I'm not sure why snakes should occupy a lower rung than birds in the > scheme of things called nature? Relocated, perhaps, but certainly not > dispatched with a shotgun. > > Tom Marko > Olney, MD > tlmarko@us.med.nvy.mil > > -----Original Message----- > From: Denise Ryan > To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM > Sent: 7/7/2003 5:22 PM > Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Atlasing story > > Last year I bought a Screech Owl nest box for my Mother to add to her > bird house collection. Earlier this spring they watched a snake of > some kind go into the nest box. That brought about some quick action > and the black rat snake was dispatched with a shotgun after consuming > at least two unidentified eggs. Mom doesn't know what is nesting in > there, but it is not an owl. She thinks Robins found a home in there. > > Do the metal guards added to the posts of Wood Duck boxes work to > deter the snakes? Can anyone recommend a pattern for making such > guards or a place to purchase them? > > Denise Ryan > Washington, DC > > -----Original Message----- > From: Rick Sussman [mailto:Warblerick@AOL.COM] > Sent: Sunday, July 06, 2003 8:33 AM > To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM > Subject: [MDOSPREY] Atlasing story > > > Hi all, > I had an interesting occurance yesterday while atlasing. There is a > large, old sycamore tree on the property of an old farmstead in one of > my 1/4 blocks, which always has something interesting near it or on it > to watch. Last week I noticed a number of holes in the branches rather > high up, and saw a flicker at one of the entrances. Sadly I also saw a > good number of juvenile Starlings in the same area. A pair of E. > Kingbirds has a nest nearby, and chase anything that comes close. Also > last week I heard and saw a Great-crested Flycatcher in the tree, so > was hoping to confirm this yesterday. > > While searching the tree yesterday I noticed a bit of snakeskin on a > branch very close to one of the holes, flapping in the breeze. AHA! I > thought, GCFL nest (they are big users of snakeskins in their nests)! > I got out my scope for a better look. When I focused it on the closest > hole, however, what I found was not one but a pair of black rat > snakes. One was in the hole with just its head poking out, the other > was just emerging from the hole, and I watched it for a while, > fascinated. As it came out it began rubbing its head on the branch > where the remaining cast-off skin was, continuing its shedding > process. Evidently that's where the skin came from that I had first > seen. This pair of snakes was about 35 feet up in the tree, and all I > can hope is that they were there for Starlings and not Flickers... > > Rick Sussman > Ashton,MD > warblerick@aol.com > ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================