No abstract

Most commercial fish hatcheries regularly kill all water snakes encountered around the rearing ponds. It is claimed that the snakes do great economic damage to the fish crop although no quantitative data is available. Ozark Fisheries Inc., located in central Missouri, is the largest goldfish (Carassius auratus) rearing company in the world. To encourage the elimination of water snakes the corporation has, for years, paid a small bounty for every water snake killed by one of their workers. Bounty records are kept as part of the expense of running the hatchery. Natrix s. sipedon is the only water snake found at Ozark Fisheries so all snake bounties pertain to that species.This study was conducted to determine: 1.The economic impact of Natrix s. sipedon on the hatchery operation. 2.Feeding and growth of this species under the conditions of an essentially unlimited food supply. 3.The influence of continual persecution on the population structure of this water snake. DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA Ozark Fisheries Inc. is in southern CamdenCounty, Missouri, near the northern edge of the Ozark Plateau. Oak-hickory covered ridges are separated by flat stream valleys. The streams are fed by large springs and the hatchery ponds are located along these valleys.