Richard King, an associate professor of biology at
Northern Illinois University, has spent 30 years studying the
Lake Erie water snake (Nerodia sipedon
insularum). Over the past 11 years, he and Ph.D. student Kristin
Stanford have tracked the population in Ohio's Put-in-Bay Harbor —
the only place in the world they're found.
During the first two weeks in June as part of the
annual Lake Erie water snake census, King, Stanford and about 40
volunteers will capture as many snakes as they can and mark them
with a number-encoded microchip.
Their work seems to be paying off.
Last Tuesday, the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to remove the Lake Erie
water snake from the list of threatened species. According to the
service, the species has sustained the targeted recovery population
of at least 5,555 snakes for the past six years.
If the proposal passes, King and Stanford will continue
monitoring the population for five more years to ensure no new
threats arise.
Megan Seymour, a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, says King and Stanford are primarily
responsible for the recovery of the species. Seymour says there
were 1,520 to 2,000 adult Lake Erie water snakes when the
population was first counted in 1999. Today, King says, there are
more than 12,000 Lake Erie water snakes.
The snakes are a key predator in Lake Erie's aquatic
ecosystem — feeding on species such as mudpuppies and native fish
such as walleye and smallmouth bass. Since the 1990s, the Lake Erie
water snake has preyed upon an invasive fish species from Europe
called the goby. The snake has played a vital role in decreasing
the goby population, which competes with native fish for food and
space.
The snakes, which grow from 1½ to 3½ feet long, have
bitten Stanford at least 1,000 times, but she says the bites don't
bother her because the snakes aren't venomous, and the marks
usually heal in a few days.
Besides coordinating the census, Stanford plans
education programs for children and adults in the community.
"A lot of the fear and discomfort a lot of people have
with snakes is due to a lack of education or a lack of personal
experience with them," Stanford says. "We try to start with kids
and show that you can have an interaction with a snake, and it
could be a good one."