Gopher snake searching cliff swallow nests in East Central Utah

Nicholas J. Czaplewski; Kent S. Smith; John Johnson; Crystal Dockery; Brandon Mason; Ian D. Browne

doi:10.3398/064.072.0112

Gopher snake searching cliff swallow nests in East Central Utah

Nicholas J. Czaplewski, Kent S. Smith, John Johnson, Crystal Dockery, Brandon Mason, Ian D. Browne

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We report details of a serendipitous encounter in July 2010 with a gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer) hunting in the mud nests of Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota). The swallow nests occurred beneath a deeply overhung sandstone cliff ledge in a box canyon of Ferron Creek in the shale deserts near Ferren, Emery County, Utah. The inaccessibility of the nests and the movement of the snake to and through them attest to both the extraordinary climbing ability of the gopher snake and the nest site selection and nest construction ability of the swallows.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	96-99
Number of pages	4
Journal	Western North American Naturalist
Volume	72
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3398/064.072.0112
State	Published - Apr 2012

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abstract = "We report details of a serendipitous encounter in July 2010 with a gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer) hunting in the mud nests of Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota). The swallow nests occurred beneath a deeply overhung sandstone cliff ledge in a box canyon of Ferron Creek in the shale deserts near Ferren, Emery County, Utah. The inaccessibility of the nests and the movement of the snake to and through them attest to both the extraordinary climbing ability of the gopher snake and the nest site selection and nest construction ability of the swallows.",

author = "Czaplewski, {Nicholas J.} and Smith, {Kent S.} and John Johnson and Crystal Dockery and Brandon Mason and Browne, {Ian D.}",

year = "2012",

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AU - Dockery, Crystal

AU - Mason, Brandon

AU - Browne, Ian D.

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Gopher snake searching cliff swallow nests in East Central Utah

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