Responses of Kansas Motorists to Snake Models on a Rural Highway

Langley, William M.; Lipps, Hank W.; Theis, John F.

doi:10.2307/3628188

Cited by 28 publications

(28 citation statements)

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“…The objects located in the center of the lane were road-killed more often than those located at the margins. Langley et al [30] also observed this pattern with fake snakes located in the median strip of the road (between the two traffic directions). We believe that this is attributable to the fact that a change of trajectory towards the center of the lane is safer than towards the edge.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…A study using fake snakes and rubber hoses on a rural road in Kansas (USA) found that rubber snakes were road-killed at higher frequency than hoses [30]. Ashley et al [29] conducted a similar study in Ontario (Canada) to assess whether intentional road-killing of reptiles (snakes and amphibians) was more frequent than expected by chance, and found that intentional snake road-killing was 2.4 times higher than control objects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Trucks are less numerous and still are responsible for a similar number of intentional road-kills, thus becoming the category that proportionally causes more intentional road-kills. One of the few studies that highlight this type of influence is that of Langley et al [30], in which fake snakes were mostly road-killed by trucks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is the first study to evaluate the relationship between object type and the time elapsed until the first intentional road-kill. Langley et al [30] reported the average time elapsed between the intentional road-kill of fake snake replicas and rubber hoses (control) set out on the road. Their results demonstrated that intentional collision with fake snakes occurred at shorter time intervals than control objects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies developed in other countries warn about the intentionality (by the drivers) of snake road-kills [e.g., 29,30] and the consequent hazards to the persistence of snake populations [23]. According to Beckmann and Shine [31], the intentional road-killing of target species, such as snakes, is associated primarily with fear and contempt by the drivers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Intentional Snake Road-Kill: A Case Study using Fake Snakes on a Brazilian Road

Secco

Ratton

Castro

et al. 2014

Tropical Conservation Science

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Records of snakes are common in fauna road-kill monitoring studies in different Brazilian regions. To determine the intentionality of snake road-killing on a Brazilian road, the following hypotheses were tested: (1) more fake snakes are intentionally killed on the road than objects not similar to snakes; (2) the time elapsed until the first intentional fake snake road-kill is less than that for dissimilar objects; (3) the proportion of intentional collisions with fake snakes does not depend on the type of vehicle; (4) objects positioned in the center of the road are more frequently road-killed than those positioned on the roadside; (5) variation in the number of intentional road-kills is linked to variation of vehicular traffic. Fake snakes and PET bottles were placed in different positions on the MG-010 road (Minas Gerais State), and monitored for 96 hours by cameras that recorded the movement of vehicles on the lane. The numbers of intentional snake road-kills and control objects presented no differences, and the time elapsed until the first intentional road-kills was also similar. Cars and trucks are the vehicle categories with highest incidence of collisions. Objects were struck more often when positioned in the center of the road. This study proves that intentional road-killing occurs and that any small object on the road is subject to being struck by a moving vehicle. This behavior by some drivers on Brazilian roads may pose a threat to the conservation of species that venture onto these roads.Keywords: wildlife-vehicle collisions; reptile conservation; human behavior; road ecology Resumo Registros de serpentes são recorrentes em trabalhos de monitoramento de fauna atropelada em diferentes regiões brasileiras. A fim de verificar se atropelamentos de serpentes em rodovias brasileiras ocorrem de maneira intencional, o presente estudo testou as seguintes hipóteses: (1) o número de atropelamentos intencionais de moldes de serpentes é maior do que o de atropelamentos intencionais de objetos não assemelhados com serpentes; (2) o tempo decorrido até o primeiro atropelamento intencional dos moldes de serpentes é menor do que de objetos não assemelhados; (3) a proporção de atropelamentos intencionais dos moldes de serpentes independe da categoria do veículo; (4) objetos posicionados no centro da rodovia são atropelados intencionalmente com maior frequência do que quando comparados aos posicionados nas margens; (5) a variação do número de atropelamentos intencionais está atrelada a variação do tráfego de veículos. Moldes de serpentes e garrafas pet foram dispostos em diferentes posições na rodovia MG-010 (Minas Gerais), e monitorados durante 96 horas, através de câmeras fotográficas que registraram o movimento dos veículos na pista. O número de atropelamentos intencionais de serpentes e objetos controle não apresentou diferença, assim como o tempo decorrido até o primeiro atropelamento intencional. Carros e caminhões constituem as categorias de veículos com maior incidência de atropelamento intencional. Quan...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Intentional Snake Road-Kill: A Case Study using Fake Snakes on a Brazilian Road

Secco

Ratton

Castro

et al. 2014

Tropical Conservation Science

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Reptiles

Andrews

Langen

Struijk

2015

Handbook of Road Ecology

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How do King Cobras move across a major highway? Unintentional wildlife crossing structures may facilitate movement

Jones

Marshall

Smith

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Global road networks continue to expand, and the wildlife responses to these landscape‐level changes need to be understood to advise long‐term management decisions. Roads have high mortality risk to snakes because snakes typically move slowly and can be intentionally targeted by drivers. We investigated how radio‐tracked King Cobras (Ophiophagus hannah) traverse a major highway in northeast Thailand, and if reproductive cycles were associated with road hazards. We surveyed a 15.3 km stretch of Highway 304 to determine if there were any locations where snakes could safely move across the road (e.g., culverts and bridges). We used recurse analyses to detect possible road‐crossing events, and used dynamic Brownian Bridge Movement Models (dBBMMs) to show movement pathways association with possible unintentional crossing structures. We further used Integrated Step Selection Functions (ISSF) to assess seasonal differences in avoidance of major roads for adult King Cobras in relation to reproductive state. We discovered 32 unintentional wildlife crossing locations capable of facilitating King Cobra movement across the highway. While our dBBMMs broadly revealed underpasses as possible crossing points, they failed to identify specific underpasses used by telemetered individuals; however, the tracking locations pre‐ and post‐crossing and photographs provided strong evidence of underpass use. Our ISSF suggested a lower avoidance of roads during the breeding season, although the results were inconclusive. With the high volume of traffic, large size of King Cobras, and a 98.8% success rate of crossing the road in our study (nine individuals: 84 crossing attempts with one fatality), we strongly suspect that individuals are using the unintentional crossing structures to safely traverse the road. Further research is needed to determine the extent of wildlife underpass use at our study site. We propose that more consistent integration of drainage culverts and bridges could help mitigate the impacts of roads on some terrestrial wildlife.

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Responses of Kansas Motorists to Snake Models on a Rural Highway

Cited by 28 publications

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Intentional Snake Road-Kill: A Case Study using Fake Snakes on a Brazilian Road

Intentional Snake Road-Kill: A Case Study using Fake Snakes on a Brazilian Road

Reptiles

How do King Cobras move across a major highway? Unintentional wildlife crossing structures may facilitate movement

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