Now its not just Honey Bees, Bats Frogs and other amphibians dying, and crashing worldwide you can add snakes to the list.

[ddarkangle2bad]

Now its not just Honey Bees, Bats Frogs and other amphibians dying, and crashing worldwide you can add snakes to the list. World Snake Population Mysteriously Declining. Studies Show Many Species of Snake Are Dramatically Shrinking in Numbers
According to the BBC News many of the species of snake in the world are in decreasing in number and have been doing so since about 1998.

The findings are based on the research of 17 different snake populations around the world, and for some reason the numbers of most of these shrank dramatically around 1998, which researchers say is alarming. Many of
these populations are also not showing any signs of recovery, which leaves them vunerable to any new condition that causes a further decrease in numbers.

Of these 17 populations being studied, only one increased in number, but some shrank to dangerous levels.

There are no obvious reasons why this has happened, but with studies being undertaken in Australia, France, Italy and Nigeria, it is obvious that this is happening on a global scale, and it is more than just a coincidence.

The only clues so far as to why this should have begun in 1998 is that it was the warmest year on record in recent years, due to strong El Nino conditions.

Scientists so far do not know what other factors might be causing the population change, but some species suffered a loss even though they were living in protected areas, so this cannot be attributed to loss of habitat.

One of the biggest problems faced with this study is the lack of data. Many studies require the tagging of snakes with micro-chips so that they can be tracked, but this type of study often takes years to complete.

Scientists are concerned that because some of these species of snakes are the main predators in ecosystems such as rice fields. As a result, the population decreases could have serious worldwide impacts, especially if this were to result in increased damage to rice crops.

Foraging snakes seem to be the most vunerable, in particular those species that lie in wait for their prey to come within range. Any changes to the patterns of their prey have a direct impact on their survival.

According to The Guardian in the UK, these are the results for those species that have been part of the studies:

Declines
Smooth snake (Coronella austriaca) in the UK
Asp viper (Vipera aspis) in France and Italy
Orsini's viper (Vipera ursinii) in Italy
Gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica) in Nigeria
Rhinoceros viper (Bitis nasicornis) in Nigeria

Royal or ball python (Python regius) in Nigeria
Western whip snake (Hierophis viridiflavus) in France
Aesculapian snake (Zamenis longissimus) in France

Stable

Grass snake (Natrix natrix) in the UK and France
Aesculapian snake (Zamenis longissimus) in France
Jameson's mamba (Dendroaspis jamesoni) in Nigeria
Eastern tiger snake (Notechis scutatus) in Australia

Slight increase

Western whip snake (Hierophis viridiflavus) in France

Sources:

BBC News

ABC News Australia

The Guardian
www.associatedcontent.com...

[Goldmoon]

I made a similar post last month, it talks about all the different die offs. Feel free to add to it if you want: http://forums.armageddononline.org/m...ie-t25295.html

[Prometheus]

Eastern tiger snake (Notechis scutatus) in Australia

Then they need to check around the area near my place. I think they all moved homes last summer - to here.

[HorrorReporter]

Humans are doing a heck of a job (brownie) ..
I have not seen a bat around my house since about 3 years ago, before that there were hundreds...
I saw no tadpoles for the past 4 years... before that thousands..
I saw no snakes for the past 2 years... before that at least 10..
Saw no bees in years...
saw maybe 4 butterflies this entire year.
And ... maybe about 50 lightning bugs a night when ten years ago you were able to see hundreds...

[doomngloom]

It's th edung beetles we got to look out for.... once they go we are really in trouble.

Anyway - I've thought of a way to get rid of unemployment:-

Anyone unemployed gets taught how to polinate flowers and paid whatever the right salary is - dont laugh, if the bees do die off this job will be worth more than a bankers bonus is right now!

[hobobone]

We had a dry early spring in my part of Pa. So for about 4 weeks i cut firewood. I was fairly deep into the woods. I didnt see even one snake. No garter, grass or black snake. To date ive not seen even a black snake sunning itself on the dirt roads. Generally when im cutting wood, i see several. And by now i would have seen many. I have seen a lot of really big spiders though. We need snakes to keep the rodent population at bay! I do know about honey bee loss. I can remember as a teenager, when going to weed the garden there were so many honey bees in the garden that you had to pay attention not to make them mad. Now i see far less honey bees in the garden. Also as a kid i can remember seeing huge honey bee hives in dead hollow trees. The honey would literally drip down the tree. I vary rarely see that now. We used to see many more bats. They would get in the barn eaves and house dormers ect. I never see that now. However i do still see them at night. Not as many though. But one time about 3 years ago . I seen at least a hundred way back in the woods in a hollowed out tree. While cutting wood, i just happened to look up into a hollow tree, thinking i would see a sleeping raccoon. Instead i seen the bats sleeping. AWESOME sight! Now to frogs... Our frog population is still pretty healthy. We have this one road in particular. It runs through a swamp. When the frogs migrate they cover the road so much I wont drive on it. The first time i seen this i was on a motorcycle. As i turned on to the road i ran over some. I stopped immediately. There were hundreds if not thousands of frogs hopping across the road. I watched a while and turned around and left. This only happens one time a year and i try to watch it when i can remember....Ok Ill shut up now...LOL!