. The Canadian field-naturalist. Natural history; Sciences naturelles. 2007 Wilkinson, Gregory, Engblsioci, and Nelson: Shaki^-tailed Snake 143 movements (Engelstott ct al. 1999), habitat (Leonard and Leonard 1998), and cover use (Engelstoll and Ovaska 2000). Most of the areas where the Sharp-tailed Snake is found in British Columbia have fairly dense human populations and highly disturbed habitat. Consequent- ly, many of the sites at which snakes are foimd are on private land. Although the Sharp-tailed Snake seems somewhat tolerant of anthropogenic habitat distur- bance, habitat loss is still
. The Canadian field-naturalist. Natural history; Sciences naturelles. 2007 Wilkinson, Gregory, Engblsioci, and Nelson: Shaki^-tailed Snake 143 movements (Engelstott ct al. 1999), habitat (Leonard and Leonard 1998), and cover use (Engelstoll and Ovaska 2000). Most of the areas where the Sharp-tailed Snake is found in British Columbia have fairly dense human populations and highly disturbed habitat. Consequent- ly, many of the sites at which snakes are foimd are on private land. Although the Sharp-tailed Snake seems somewhat tolerant of anthropogenic habitat distur- bance, habitat loss is still considered the primary threat to its persistence in Canada. Therefore, management and stewardship by landowners are important factors in conservation programs for this species. The aim of this study was to determine the key char- acteristics that define habitats used by the Sharp-tailed Snake, in order to guide future habitat management. We did this by comparing sites known to be used by Sharp-tailed Snakes with sites that were subjectively similar but not known to be used (potential sites), and with locations chosen at random with respect to both known and potential site types. The first comparison objectively tested whether potential sites actually are similar to those sites known to be used by these snakes and the second tested whether Sharp-tailed Snakes use a subset of those habitats that are available. Initial observations suggested that south-facing rocky slopes and forest clearings appeared to provide the most suitable habitat for this species (see also Leonard and Leonard 1998). but no quantitative assessment of habi- tat characteristics has previously been done. Thus, we measured a wide range of possibly influential habitat variables at each sample location and compared them statistically among locations. Although our comparisons among sites and loca- tions were objective, selection of potential sites obvi- ously was biased by our general knowledge of snake ecology a
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