Wildlife Protection

Keeping It Simple: Easy Ways to Help Wildlife Along Roads

Rock-brush piles create safe home for little snake

The small, crimson-colored Northern Red-bellied Snake never bites. When this threatened non-poisonous snake is around, it's the sign of a healthy environment. So when the City of Leavenworth made plans to build the 20th Street Trafficway through potential Redbelly habitat, city officials purchased a nearby large tract of land with high potential as snake habitat. There, the City worked with the Kansas Department of Transportation to enhance existing snake habitat and create new habitat. They put in three lines of flat rocks (from 4-foot boulders to 12-inch stones) and filled in the crevices with tree debris gathered from felled trees on the construction site. The rock-brush piles protect the little snake from predators and allow it to crawl below the frostline for its winter den. The land was fenced and added to the list of parks managed by the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Department, protecting it as a sanctuary.

--Apr 25, 2003

Mike McDonald, (913) 684-0375 or mmcdonald@firstcity.org

Northern red-bellied snake

Along Roads - Kansas