thewanderingpiney's Favorites

Pituophis m. melanoleucus -twelve "chicken-sized" eggs saved from certain destruction, found in an incredibly lucky happenstance at a site under construction for a large senior/retirement community in the NJ Pine Barrens. I was one of the biological monitors present on this environmentally-sensitive site, and at lunchtime I was approached by the construction foreman who told me he had just seen a "black snake" disappear down a small hole nearby. I went over to investigate, as I knew the entire area would be razed down to bare gravel within a few weeks, thinking that with any luck I could perhaps save a Northern Black Racer (Coluber c. constrictor) from an uncertain fate by capturing and relocating it. Imagine my excitement and surprise when instead of a Racer - I unearthed a beautiful clutch of late-term Northern Pine Snake eggs, a protected State Threatened species! Needless to say I was thrilled! I carefully removed the eggs to finish their incubation in the field lab (well, the cheap on-site office trailer that served as one, anyway!), and approximately 16 days after discovery, 7 male and 5 female robust and healthy hatchlings emerged. Check out the photos above to see the entire "story" of this "bad situation turned good" - from the tiny hole pointed out to me by the foreman, to the release of the hatchlings in a beautiful, protected Pine Barrens land preserve nearby - confirmed habitat for this species. For those who may be wondering - I never found the "black snake"!

For further information of the observation see: Langner, Christian Georg 2017. Hidden in the Heart of Borneo-shedding light on Some Mysteries of an Enigmatic Lizard: First Records of Habitat Use, Behavior, and Food Items of Lanthanotus borneensis Steindachner, 1878 in Its Natural Habitat. Russ. J. Herpetol. 24 (1): 1-10