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Posted by kerry on February 17, 2002 at 21:11:24:
In Reply to: What a depressing sight....................... posted by Kevin Earley on February 17, 2002 at 07:51:41:
: No pun intended.
: I have some questions....
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: 1. Kerry how often do you come across road kill gilas?
>>> When I used to do lots of herping it was fairly regularly, sometimes several in a year.
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: 2. Is it more common then finding them alive? In other words I'm curious if area "sightings" have been established solely on the fact of finding a road kill as opposed to ever finding one alive.
>>> No, but then the dead ones DO stay on the road longer(LOL). When it comes to finding Gilas on the road it has been my experience that about half of them have been run over. Keep in mind that my eyes are well trained and constantly watching for them and other herps when I'm on the road. I've seen as many as 12 on the road in one year, with a few of those being just off of the road onto the shoulder.
In some areas it appears that Gilas have enough inteligence(?) to be able to live along roadways without being to adversely affected by them. There are areas I know of where there are very healthy populations of them right along side of extremely busy highways, yet you never see them in the road, live or dead.
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: 3. Do they tend to be more juveniles or adults or is it a mixed ratio?
>>> Small ones are pretty infrequent, and almost always seen after dark when the heat is on. The size ratio is probably something like 3 and sometimes 4 adults to every sub-adult, with 1 and sometimes 2 out of every 10 being very small.
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: 4. Is it more common at different times of year?
: I know they have activity peaks but I wonder if the road kills are while crossing the road or while trying to absorb heat from the asphalt.
>>> That depends pretty much on where you are. In south central Arizona you should be expecting to see one on the road anytime in April all the way through October in years with above average rainfall and earrlier than normal summer "monsoon" season. What DOES change for finding them alive on the road during this time is the time of day. That's something that your gonna have to learn for yourself, though... Sorry!!! (LOL) In all of the time I've been watching for them, I have only once come upon one that was trying to draw heat from the asphalt, he was an average sized adult actually lying sprawled-out asleep on the center line at about 1:am in an extremely remote area with very little traffic.
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: Any answers you could give would be appreciated.
>>> I should be charging for this kind of stuff. I can just imagine the "wheels of opportunity" a turnin' in some peoples heads right about now!!! (LOL)
