VGCC Students Make Rare Animal Sightings in NC Sandhills
Two students and an instructor from Vance-Granville Community College were part of an October expedition that saw some rare and endangered species in the Sandhills of North Carolina, and they made history along the way. On October 14, Michael Reedy of Wake Forest and Justin Such of Creedmoor, both students in the VGCC college transfer program, became two of a very small group of people to have seen more than five Southern Hognose Snakes (also known by their scientific name, Heterodon simus) in one day. According to Jeff Beane, Collections Manager for Herpetology at the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences and leader of the expedition, perhaps as few as five other people in the state have seen so many of the elusive reptiles in one day. The two went on the field trip with VGCC instructor Nikki Zidar as part of Zidar’s Environmental Biology Lab course, in an effort to learn more about the habitats and natural history of the Sandhills region.
The trip was a scheduled expedition of the Wake Audubon Society called “Halloween Herps in the Sandhills.” Beane and Will Rowland, both members of the Wake Audubon Society and the North Carolina Herpetological Society, accompanied the students and instructor. “We visited sites primarily in the Sandhills Game Lands as well as other portions of Moore, Richmond, and Scotland counties, looking mostly for amphibians and reptiles, but recording any vertebrate species seen or heard,” Zidar said.
Other animals seen included the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker and the vulnerable Eastern Fox Squirrel. The Southern Hognose Snake, the Red-cockaded Woodpecker and the Fox Squirrel all depend on the habitat provided by Longleaf Pine forests, a habitat which is rapidly declining in the southeastern United States. The VGCC group was also able to participate in an ongoing study of Heterodon simus, called Project Simus, by using radiotelemetry to track two animals that had been implanted with transmitters. Beane has been conducting this study of the Southern Hognose snake for 12 years.
The group also explored various portions of the Sandhills ecosystem, turning over logs and other surface cover looking for snakes, lizards, and salamanders. Several fish and amphibian species were also found by using dip nets to look though leaf litter and mud in wetland areas. “We also found the skeletons of several Broken-striped Newts that were probably killed due to the drought,” Zidar added.
Besides the Red-cockaded Woodpecker, they were able to identify (by sight or sound) a variety of birds, including the Great Blue Heron, Wood Duck, American Woodcock, Great Horned Owl and Belted Kingfisher. “In the end, we spent a fantastic day interacting with the ecology of the North Carolina Sandhills and identified 68 vertebrate species,” Zidar said. “I would like to thank Jeff and Will for their fantastic leadership and identification skills, and Justin Such and Michael Reedy for their enthusiastic participation!”
Above: VGCC student Justin Such holds an Eastern Ribbon Snake he encountered during an October expedition in the Sandhills of North Carolina.
