University of Idaho doctoral student Emily Martin reported on Apr. 11 that relocating prairie rattlesnakes away from human-populated areas in Sinks Canyon State Park, Wyoming, leads to increased mortality and weight loss among the snakes. Martin’s research aims to understand whether translocated snakes return to their original location and how they survive after being moved.
The findings are important for wildlife management as they help determine the best practices for reducing human-snake encounters while ensuring snake survival. Sinks Canyon State Park has a policy requiring rangers to move snakes found near visitors to the edge of the park.
Martin said, “If a rattlesnake gets into an area in the park where it can’t stay, like a well-used hiking trail or a visitor parking lot, often those animals get moved to another place.” She added that her project is focused on management questions: “Does it come back? Does it continue to pose a problem? Does it die? All these are questions that we’re tackling with this project. We are interested in answering a more management-focused question and collecting data that can help manage rattlesnakes.”
To track the movements of both relocated and non-relocated snakes, researchers implanted VHF transmitters into their body cavities. Martin explained, “Every snake gets a unique three-color code that prevents us from catching the same snake over and over.” The study showed that translocated snakes do not return to their original locations but move differently compared to non-translocated ones. “Although the snakes don’t appear to return to their home territory, they move around their landscape, around their habitat in really profoundly different ways from non-translocated snakes,” she said. “That is good news from a human perspective. If you’re removing the snakes from the area, that lack of a homing mechanism is really valuable.”
However, there are drawbacks for the animals themselves. Martin noted an increase in mortality among relocated rattlesnakes: “The downside from the snake perspective — we did see increased mortality.” Additionally, weight loss was observed among translocated individuals: “These are low energy specialists that may eat one to four times in an active season, so any kind of weight loss can cascade,” she said.
Based on her findings so far after two field seasons, Martin concluded that moving snakes away from humans but still within their home range may be preferable for both people and wildlife: “Likely that’s something we’re going to recommend for the park,” she said.
