TY - JOUR

T1 - Marking the un-markable: visible implant elastomer in wild juvenile snakes

AU - Major, Tom

AU - Alkins, Devlan R.

AU - Jeffrey, Lauren

AU - Wüster, Wolfgang

PY - 2020/7/1

Y1 - 2020/7/1

N2 - Marking individuals is a key component of many ecological studies, but with some animals, such as juvenile snakes, it has proven problematic because of size constraints. This impedes our understanding of their habits in the wild. We marked juvenile Aesculapian snakes (Zamenis longissimus) in North Wales with visible implant elastomer (VIE), and recaptured them the following season. Our results demonstrate that the use of VIE is an effective marking method for small snakes, negating the need for tissue removal when marking. We suggest it represents a promising development in the ecological study of snakes, and is especially useful in species that undergo ontogenetic pattern changes.

AB - Marking individuals is a key component of many ecological studies, but with some animals, such as juvenile snakes, it has proven problematic because of size constraints. This impedes our understanding of their habits in the wild. We marked juvenile Aesculapian snakes (Zamenis longissimus) in North Wales with visible implant elastomer (VIE), and recaptured them the following season. Our results demonstrate that the use of VIE is an effective marking method for small snakes, negating the need for tissue removal when marking. We suggest it represents a promising development in the ecological study of snakes, and is especially useful in species that undergo ontogenetic pattern changes.

KW - Capture-mark-recapture

KW - ecology

KW - tagging

KW - fluorescent

KW - ontogenetic change

U2 - https://doi.org/10.33256/hj30.3.173176

DO - https://doi.org/10.33256/hj30.3.173176

M3 - Article

VL - 30

SP - 173

EP - 176

JO - Herpetological Journal

JF - Herpetological Journal

SN - 0268-0130

IS - 3

ER -