On Saturday, January 31, 2004 a conference on herpetology in South Carolina was held at the Riverbanks Zoo Education Center in Columbia, SC. The conference was co hosted by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) and the Riverbanks Zoo. Steve Bennett, our State Herpetologist with SCDNR, was the principal organizer of the conference and Scott Pfaff, Curator of Herpetology at Riverbanks Zoo, arranged the facilities for the conference. Steve hopes the conference will become an annual event. Based upon the turnout and enthusiasm of the attendees, which numbered about 125, I believe Steve can feel very good about the future. Attendees came from our neighboring State of North Carolina and Georgia, as well as throughout South Carolina.

The conference began at 9 A.M. with registration and continued until the Zoo threatened to lock us in at 5 P.M. Kurt Buhlmann, of the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science at Conservation International, opened the conference with a discussion of global market threats to freshwater turtle populations in South Carolina and the Southeast. He pointed out that one of the major factors which make the harvesting of large numbers of wild turtles for market consumption dangerous is the long time (7 to 8 years) required for turtles to reach sexual maturity. Native populations can be decimated within a few years by heavy harvesting of mature turtles. Last year, the SCDNR promulgated emergency regulations to restrict such heavy harvesting. A more permanent approach for controlling this threat to native populations is an important issue in need of solution in 2004.

Julian Harrison, Professor Emeritus at College of Charleston, provided attendees a very interesting description of the methodology and detailed science which has been necessary to define a new species of Dwarf Salamander, Eurycea chamberlaini found in SC and neighboring states. This new species, which heretofore has been described as a lighter-colored morph of the E. quadridigitata, but has a yellowbelly rather than the dark or silver belly.

Michelle Lee, a Master's candidate at the College of Charleston Graduate program in Marine Sciences, described her studies of the reproductive biology and testosterone cycling in the Diamondback Terrapin. Her data show a fascinating annual phasing of reproductive activity in the male and female terrapins.

Two presenters clearly touched the heart-strings of most all herpetologists and herp enthusiasts with their presentations relating to snake activity on roads. Kevin Messenger, a zoology major at North Carolina State University, presented data on his observations of snake activity on roads in the Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge, in Chesterfield County, S.C. He is applying scientific methodology to one of all herpers' favorite activities, road cruising for snakes. For example, he was able to demonstrate a correlation between snake activity on roads and the phase of the moon. His data show that at night, a herper is more likely to find a snake on the road during the new moon than during the full moon. Kevin is also constructing a website describing reptiles and amphibians native to the Carolina Sandhills Refuge.

Kimberly Andrews, a Master's candidate at the University of Georgia, discussed her studies of snake response to roads and traffic. Performing observations upon released specimens on a closed roadway at the Savannah River Sight in SC, she is describing and quantifying interspecies variations in snake responses. She is still in the data analysis phase of her work, but the initial results promise to be very interesting and useful for future management decisions relating to the effects of roads upon snake populations.

Jayme Waldron, a graduate student at Clemson University, described her studies of the Green Salamander in the Carolina Blue Ridge. Previous research has indicated that Green Salamander populations are declining. Green Salamanders are generally considered to be inhabitants of rock crevices. However, after much fruitless searching of crevices at the study site, the salamanders were observed in relatively abundant numbers on the trunks of living trees. Due to physical limitations of the study, no observations of Salamander activity in the tree canopy was possible. It appears that the Salamanders at the study site, hibernate in the rock crevices, but move into the trees for much of the year.

Scott Pfaff, Curator of Herpetology at Riverbanks Zoo, described the Zoo's success in captive breeding of two rare amphibians: Broad-striped Dwarf Siren and Pine Barrens Treefrog. The treefrogs were found to be relatively easy to breed, so long as predators, including fire ants, were excluded. The sirens were found more problematic. Beginning with a few juvenile sirens, the Zoo tried various approaches for 5 years before offspring appeared. The captive-breed sirens also required 5 years before producing offspring. Although not definitive, these results are indicative that these sirens are very slow to mature. This second generation of captive-breed sirens will be maintained until, hopefully, they produce offspring.

Sam Seashole is the owner and operator of a small animal veterinary clinic in Moncks Corner, SC. He is currently consulting veterinarian for Alligator Adventure, in North Myrtle Beach, SC and Cypress Gardens Park in Berkeley County, SC. Sam presented in a humorous format, many important observations and recommendations for maintaining healthy herps in captivity. He emphasized that to maintain healthy herps one must try to reduce the stress upon the animals. Stress may result from obvious factors such as exposure to improper temperatures, but also from subtle factors such as visual exposure to rival individuals of the same species.

Whit Gibbons, Professor of Ecology at the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, discussed activities of the relatively young conservation organization, Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC). PARC is currently finalizing documents providing guidelines for monitoring of reptiles and for management of habitat for amphibians and reptiles in the Southeast. The Southeast Chapter of PARC will be holding an important meeting in Ridgeland, SC on February 27-28, 2004.

Steve Bennett, herpetologist for SC DNR, closed the conference with a request that all participants provide input to SC DNR to assist in the development of a Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plan. Development of this plan is a requirement resulting from the State's acceptance of federal assistance funds for wildlife management. One such effort was this conference. This plan will include all wildlife, snakes and other herps included! Steve passed out some detailed questionnaires which he requested that participants take home and complete. Anyone else interested in providing input should contact Steve. Questionnaires are requested to be returned by February 28, 2004.

Steve's addresses are:

Steve Bennett, Herpetologist
SC DNR
P O Box 167
Columbia, SC 29202
803-734-3930
sbennett@scdnr.state.sc.us

I believe that every attendee enjoyed the meeting, shared ideas, found new friends, and expanded their personal networks. I am looking forward to next year's meeting. My thanks to Steve, Scott, and all the presenters.

End

February 17, 2004