Conservation: Historical Blue racers are endangered in Ontario due to a variety of reasons such as persecution, road mortality and habitat loss. Much of southern Ontario was once all forest and savannah habitat. When Europeans came and developed the landscape, large amounts of forest were destroyed which initially benefited the racers as the fields mimicked their preferred prairie and savannah habitat. This was only temporary, and as agriculture became more intensive, blue racers were unable to inhabit these areas to the same extent. This greatly reduced the amount of suitable habitat and cut off many natural corridors needed for racers to travel. As populations became isolated, it restricted their genetic diversity, effecting their survival rate. This greatly influenced their extirpation, localized extinction from mainland Ontario. Now, in Ontario, only a handful can be found on Pelee Island and some suggest this population may be gone by 2025.
Conservation: Current Research This individual was part of a project run by Ryan Wolfe MSc, to better understand the snakes’ population in Ontario. There are two projects underway, the first is to do mark recapture surveys to help determine the size of the population. Population estimated for this species have not been done in Ontario since the early 2000s and are in dire need of an update. The second project is to see how the different strategies of maintaining the alvar/savannah habitats are affecting the racers. For this, surveys are done in areas where prescribed burns have taken place as well as areas where larger shrubs have been mechanically removed. Vegetation surveys along with small mammal surveys are done in each area to see how they compare for supporting the Endangered blue racer. This is all being done with the help of Ontario Nature, NRSI, Wildlife Preservation Canada, Scales Nature Park and the Rollinson’s Lab at the University of Toronto.
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Colouration: Are blue racers actually blue? In some isolated populations, individuals may appear more grey and some even verge on being melanistic. Blue however, is rare in nature and usually doesn’t occur like most other colours. In most cases, an animal’s colouration and pattern is caused by the chemical melanin produced by the animal’s skin cells. For blue however, many animals instead have developed minute structures that act like a prism, instead of producing a spectrum of colours, these structures only reflect a blue spectrum of light, working much like iridescence. Blue racers have a near iridescent blue shine most visible in direct sunlight. Their blue colour may help the blue racer when basking by reflecting some harmful solar rays.
Sources:
Bichell, Rae E. "How Animals Hacked the Rainbow and Got Stumped on Blue." NPR, 12 Nov. 2014, www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/11/12/347736896/how-animals-hacked-the-rainbow-and-got-stumped-on-blue. Accessed 7 Dec. 2021. "Blue Racer." Ontario Nature, 2021, ontarionature.org/programs/community-science/reptile-amphibian-atlas/blue-racer/. Accessed 7 Dec. 2021. Lee, David W. "Ultrastructural Basis and Function of Iridescent Blue Colour of Fruits in Elaeocarpus." Nature, 17 Jan. 1991, www.nature.com/articles/349260a0. Accessed 7 Dec. 2021. Wolfe, Ryan. "Blue Racer: The Only Remaining Population in Canada." Canadian Herpetological Society, 12 Dec. 2020 |