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Movements and habitat use by western ratsnakes (Pantherophis obsoletus) in a fragmented midwestern landscape

Formally Refereed

Abstract

North American ratsnakes (Pantherophis spp.) are regionally important predators whose behavior has previously been linked to habitat fragmentation and climate change. Ratsnakes are hypothesized to benefit from fragmentation that creates favorable microclimates, but previous studies have produced inconsistent results, potentially reflecting geographic variation or study design limitations. We used radiotelemetry and kernel-based home range estimators to evaluate the seasonal movements and habitat use of 53 Western Ratsnakes (Pantherophis obsoletus) in central Missouri, USA. Snakes frequently remained in the same location for several days at a time, and often returned to the same locations used previously, suggesting apparent spatial memory. Consistent with seasonal reproductive behavior, home range size and distance moved per day were greater for males than females during April-June, but not July-September. Resource utilization functions indicated a negative linear relationship between intensity of space use and distance to forest-field edges for males during the early period and for females during both the early and late periods. The spatial behavior of Western Ratsnakes was affected by sex, season, and vegetation density. Ratsnake use of edge habitats may explain increased avian predation rates near edges and in fragmented landscapes.

Keywords

edge effects, habitat fragmentation, home range, spatial ecology, utilization distributions

Citation

George, Andrew D.; Thompson, Frank R.; Faaborg, John. 2022. Movements and habitat use by western ratsnakes (Pantherophis obsoletus) in a fragmented midwestern landscape. Herpetological Conservation and Biology. 17(2): 306–315.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/65201