New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

A nice snaky day.

Friday 06/09/2006

I suppose few people I know would ever describe a nice day connected at all to a day filled with snakes. But I am happy to say I can, even though full today meant only three snakes. Two were common every day garter snakes, but the last of the day was a beautiful ring necked snake. One of my amphibian books describe them as a delicate common, but rarely seen snake. How can something this is common rarely be seen? But the text goes on further to say few folks will ever see one. But I have seen three in the last three years.

But lets start with the first two this morning. I stopped in to the Fish and Game Headquarters building in Concord to pick up a radio receiver to check on a wandering hen turkey. Turkey biologist, Ted Walski, asked me if I could try to track her down in Bear Brook State Park, not far from where I live. She has relocated herself from the place of capture and radio collaring last February 22nd in Portsmouth.

As I left the building late morning I spotted a big long garter snake in the small natural pond display near the entrance. I grabbed my camera for a couple of shots and noticed a second curled up not far away basking in the first rays of sun seen in these parts since Tuesday.

The turkey eluded me although I poked and probed into the large roadless tract of woods in the Park where the turkey was detected by aircraft over a week ago. But in so doing I stumbled upon lots of other very interesting critters, or sign.

1) I came upon a medium sized snapping turtle hunting in a wetland on the side of a woods road.

2) Saw plenty of Canada goose poop in an area where I have banded them before and now may try again.

3) Saw a scarlet tanager and two orioles almost at once.

4) Came upon an otter hunting in a small wetland not 50 feet away.

5) On the very top of a hill at an active granite mining operation saw a fairly fresh bobcat track.

6) While on hiking along the top of another ledge hill within the Park at about 5:30 I stepped on a flat rock the rocked. I though to myself "This would be a great rock to find a ringed neck snake under." When I lifted the only rock I moved all day, there lay coiled up was a beautiful ring necked snake. Life is so good!

7) On the way out I snapped a picture of a wood frog practically on top of the hill, far from water as far as I know.

8) Returning home tonight from another trip to Concord for dinner, I was greeted by a gray tree frog in my driveway.

Yesterday was a very interesting day too, before I forget to mention it. I met four Fish and Game Fisheries staff members to begin an assessment of the Suncook River and a major tributary involved with the brook floater mussels. I had made contact with land owners where these folks needed to access the river to do electro shocking of fish to determine species present. Basically one member of the three wears an electric back pack that distributes a charge into the water to stun any fish. Two others are there to quickly net the stunned fish. They are placed in a bucket for biological processing, then released back into where they were captured. They sampled Colby Brook a significant tributary remaining in the most de-watered section and in the remnant of the old Suncook River bed below the Old Mill dam.

I also took fisheries biologist John McGee to various sections of the river to begin his analysis of what action he felt should be undertaken to understand the affect on the biota and to offer recommendations to improve the situation. I again walked some miles in my hip boots as it rained much of the afternoon. There is much to understand about the changed river. And much work to do to begin to effectively take actions. There is so much to do!