I calmly suggested, "It could be a
fox snake. Not at all dangerous." As I began to launch into the benefits of native snakes, she interrupted.
The group - all aged eight - got to meet Merlin the bearded dragon, Sasha the Meerkat, five week old baby skunks, a Pygmy hedgehog named Spike, and two snakes - a boa constrictor called Baby, and a
fox snake called Bob.
One of the numerous species at risk as a consequence of anthropogenic disturbance is the Eastern Fox Snake, pantherophis gloydi.
The eastern fox snake (Pantherophis gloydi) is currently listed as endangered in Canada, and is threatened in the state of Michigan.
It's also home to lake sturgeon, raptors, foxes and threatened reptiles like the spotted turtle and eastern
fox snake. Craves believes that the refuge's greatest treasure is actually a little-known dragonfly, the russet-tipped clubtail, found here in extraordinary concentrations.
Number Capture Species Captured Rate (%) Red-sided Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) 41.0 18.6 Western Plains Garter Snake (Thamnophis radix) 23.0 10.5 Western Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis proximus) 10.0 4.5 Eastern Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus) 9.0 4.1 Western
Fox Snake (Elaphe vulpina 7.0 3.2 Yellow-bellied Racer (Coluber constrictor) 4.0 1.8 Prairie Kingsnake (Lampropeltis calligaster) 1.0 0.5 Diamond-backed Water Snake (Nerodia rhombifer) 1.0 0.5 Total 96.0 43.6
The inland archaeological and modern occurrences of the eastern fox snake (Elaphe gloydi) in the area indicate the species occupied and occupies habitats other than the marshy areas adjacent to Lake Erie and Lake Huron that are suggested as the habitat for Michigan Lower Peninsula fox snakes in the literature.
I identified the eastern fox snake (Elaphe gloydi) specimen which consisted of a single trunk vertebra of a moderately large adult.
Body temperature fluctuations in free-ranging eastern
fox snakes (Elaphe gloydi) during cold-water swimming.
Predators of nests of eastern meadowlarks include
fox snakes (Elaphne vulpina), eastern garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis), northern water snakes (Nerodia sipedon), bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer), common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula), corvids, Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana), American badgers (Taxidea taxus), raccoons (Procyon lotor), striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), foxes, coyotes (Canis latrans), domestic cats (Felis catus), and domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris; Bent, 1958; Lanyon, 1995; Granfors et al., 1996; Renfrew and Ribic, 2003; Kershner et al., 2004; Suedkamp Wells et al., 2007).
Western
fox snakes are relatively heavy bodied snakes that can reach up to 130 cm.
Timber rattlesnakes appear to have been extirpated from the island region although
fox snakes (Elaphe vulpina) are sometimes mistakenly identified as rattlesnakes by island residents and visitors.