Revisiting Old Data to Answer Modern Conservation Questions: Population Modeling of Two Species in Kingsnakes, Lampropeltis sp. in Kansas

There is increasing interest on the effects of take for the pet trade on reptiles in Kansas, although little data is available to elucidate possible impacts. The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism and the Kansas Biological Survey recently partnered on a project to digitize Henry Fitch's nearly 60 years of data collection on Northeast Kansas snake populations. We utilized the mark-recapture data for two species of snakes, the Prairie Kingsnake Lampropeltis calligaster and the Milk Snake L. triangulum to build population models and identify life history stages most vulnerable to take. Population growth rates for L. calligaster were most sensitive to changes in both juvenile and adult female survivorship. Lampropeltis triangulum was most sensitive to take of adult females. Sustained take over 20 years exceeding 30% in L. triangulum resulted in population extirpation based on population viability models developed here.