Reptiles from "corridor" to "park"

[wellies101]

Hi All

I work in a country park (c. 200 acres) that is technically 13 years old as a park. Before this it was a gravel extraction site then landfill. Now it has neutral grassland meadows, lakes, reedbeds and wet woodlands and in my limited experience so far in conservation, this smacks of potential reptile habitat.

However, before I started (18 months ago) there had been no records of reptiles since the park opened. I put 12 reptile tins out along the edge of the park which runs along a railway line to check for their presence at the back end of this summer and we've had 2 juvenile grassy's during that time! However, they've not been recorded elsewhere on site and my concern is they are using the railway line as a wildlife corridor and not branching into the park and the rest of the habitat.

They would have one, maybe two, paths to cross, but they are only 1m wide at most. Then they are in meadows or scrub, perfect! I have spoken to Steve Langham @ SARG (not going against the advice you gave me then Steve, just thought I'd see if other people had other ideas) about how we try and encourage the reptiles "into" the park who gave me great advice. However, I just wanted to see if other people had any experience of how to potentially overcome obstacles such as this?

The alternative (again in discussion with Steve @ SARG about this) is to introduce reptiles into the heart of the park from a donor site that is being developed, therefore, losing the habitat completely.

Any thoughts?

[ron1863]

If the problem is that they won't cross the small path then why don't you do what some of the authorities up here in Scotland have did for hedgehogs, and that's bury plastic pipe under the path to allow them to go under instead of across the paths. Very cheap and quickly done.
Good luck.

[wellies101]

Ron

Sounds good, do you know where I can find any examples or case studies of this on the net? I'm sure I'm able to stick a pipe in the ground and cover it up again, but would be good to see examples to make sure I don't miss anything.

Thanks

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by wellies101

Hi All

The alternative (again in discussion with Steve @ SARG about this) is to introduce reptiles into the heart of the park from a donor site that is being developed, therefore, losing the habitat completely.

Any thoughts?

Brilliant. There are so few areas of good habitat with not may reptiles in that you can move a reptile population to. In addition you may be able to get additional financial support from such a developer to make things even better.

[svenrufus]

I'd be really surprised if they aren't able to cross the paths, so they should by all accounts have reached the main area on their own if they wanted to, which is raising questions in my mind about why they haven't. I guess with SARG involved you have good advice on hand to give you a steer, but their absence from something that is so close to a known population makes me wonder if there is something less obvious about the habitat that makes it unsuitable.

With that thought in mind, (and just as a first instinct as well), I am wary of the idea of translocation as, if the habitat is not as good as you are assuming it to be, that could result in the loss of the population that is being moved. That said, in the absence of any alternative, (and assuming that the development is a done deal rather than offering a new site in a way that makes it easier for developers to push the natural world around) I guess translocation is worth a shot, but other aspects of the background info you have given make me feel a little uneasy about that.

If at all possible - ie as long as it doesn't see the loss of the herps from the development site - I would be inclined to hold back from introducing them there, and try other interventions to see if the adjacent population can be encouraged to spread. I still can't quite accept that they wouldn't have crossed such narrow boundaries if things are as good as they sound.

One last thought that has just occurred to me - you say that the records you got from the tins were 2 juveniles, so actually there might not be that much reptile activity on the railway, and these were just incidental records rather than indicative of a wider population. Where would the 'corridor' be linking to - are there other known herp sites along the track nearby from which colonisation could occur? If not, then the case for translocation grows stronger. Also, what species would be moved from the donor site? If they are a different species than has been recorded in your area, again, there is a better case for translocation.

Hope this helps - keep us posted on what your thinking is, and what happens.

[nightshade]

Originally Posted by wellies101

Hi All

I work in a country park (c. 200 acres) that is technically 13 years old as a park. Before this it was a gravel extraction site then landfill. Now it has neutral grassland meadows, lakes, reedbeds and wet woodlands and in my limited experience so far in conservation, this smacks of potential reptile habitat.

However, before I started (18 months ago) there had been no records of reptiles since the park opened. I put 12 reptile tins out along the edge of the park which runs along a railway line to check for their presence at the back end of this summer and we've had 2 juvenile grassy's during that time! However, they've not been recorded elsewhere on site and my concern is they are using the railway line as a wildlife corridor and not branching into the park and the rest of the habitat.

They would have one, maybe two, paths to cross, but they are only 1m wide at most. Then they are in meadows or scrub, perfect! I have spoken to Steve Langham @ SARG (not going against the advice you gave me then Steve, just thought I'd see if other people had other ideas) about how we try and encourage the reptiles "into" the park who gave me great advice. However, I just wanted to see if other people had any experience of how to potentially overcome obstacles such as this?

The alternative (again in discussion with Steve @ SARG about this) is to introduce reptiles into the heart of the park from a donor site that is being developed, therefore, losing the habitat completely.

Any thoughts?

The railway cutting enviroment possibly suits them better, where there are small populations there is no pressure to expand territory and "encouraging" them may not be the right thing to do

[Moonmoth]

Hiya , Just wondering if the reason they are staying on the Railway line is because they can bask on the warm stone chippings ,if you make sure there are nice stones or corrugated sheets for them to heat up on that might well tempt them in to sunbathe on your side

[animartco]

Parks are usually too tidy for reptiles, and if the public use them a lot, too dangerous! I think they are better off along the railway. If you do encourge them in you will have to ensure all dogs are kept on the lead and that the people behave themselves as well! I have seen many dead snakes and slowworms along paths, obviously killed by homo sapiens.