Contract No.: CV/2012/05. Bathing Beach at Lung
Mei, Tai Po
Report
for capture and relocation of
Common Rat Snake ·Æ¹«³D
Dr. Mark Shea
¡]June 26, 2017¡^
1.
Introduction
1.1.
To comply
with the environmental permit requirement of the Project (EP-388/2010), i.e. section 2.4
under task of measures for mitigating ecological impact, it is required to mitigate the ecological impact
on the Common rat Snake Ptyas mucosus, capture
survey on the species shall be conducted by a qualified ecologist (refer to Appendix
1: CV of Dr. Mark Shea) within the
project site before the commencement of construction of the Project.
Any of this species caught during the survey shall be relocated to suitable
habitats, which has been agreed by the Director of EPD.
2
Method
2.1 The
capture survey has been conducted on 24th March 2017 during day
time. Boundary of the snake
capture survey covered the whole project site, shown as Figure 1. In
accordance with EM & A Manual and EP, captured common rat snake will be
released at the shrubland habitat (as receptor site) on north of the project
area, Figure 2.
The proposed relocation site is a shrubland with
some rocks and leaf litters, which provides potential habitat for snake
foraging, hiding and breeding (refers to Photos
1-4). The habitat is similar to that found at the proposed capture site
2.2 As the species is strictly diurnal (HKU 2017;
Karsen et al., 1986) and the capture
habitat is small in area (approximately 1 ha) with easy access by walk, one day
time survey has been carried out. Terrestrial area of the project site has
been surveyed.
2.3 Careful
searches of appropriate microhabitats and refugia
(e.g. stones, crevices, leaf litter/debris, dead/fallen wood, underside of
wood/plastic board) have been
undertaken. In considering the species is very swift and difficult to capture,
snake hooks has been used
during capture survey. Proper clothes, shoes and gloves have been wore by
surveyors to prevent potential snake bite.
2.4 To increase the chance finding the snake,
systematic and intensive search of appropriate microhabitats and refugia (e.g. stones, crevices, leaf litter/debris,
dead/fallen wood, underside of wood/plastic board) were
performed during capture survey.
3
Result
3.1
The capture survey has been undertaken on the
24th March 2017. The
proposed site comprised of woodland and shrubland habitats (Photos 5-8) that
potentially inhabited by the snake. The snake was not found during the survey period .
4
Summary
4.1
Capture survey of the snake has been
done systematically throughout the proposed survey area on the 24th March
2017 and no snake was noticed/captured during the
survey period.
5
Reference
HKU (The University of Hong Kong). (2017). Ptyas mucosus Common
Rat Snake. Available at http://www.biosch.hku.hk/ecology/hkreptiles/snake/Ptyas_mucosus.html. [Accessed 5th Jaunuary 2017]
Karsen, S.J., Lau, W.N., Bogadek, A. (1986). Hong
Kong Amphibians and Reptiles, the Urban Council Hong Kong. HKSAR.
Figure 1. Boundary of snake
capture survey at Lung Mei beach.
Figure 2.
Indicative areas for common rat snake capture survey and relocation at
Lung Mei beach.
Photo
1. General View of the relocation site (Outside) |
Photo
2. General View of the relocation site (Outside) |
Photo
3. General View of the relocation site (inside) |
Photo
4. General View of the relocation site (inside) |
|
Photo
5. General View of Capture Survey Area |
|
Photo
6. General View of Capture Survey Area |
|
Photo
7. General View of Capture Survey Area |
|
Photo
8. View of Capture Survey at the
site |