The Embeddedness of Hognose Snakes (Heterodon Spp.) in the Wildlife Pet Trade and the Relevance of Assemblage Geographies for Reptile Conservation

• Other Authors: Kelley, Lauren Grace (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Geography
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-4942

The wildlife pet trade is global in scope and generates large economic revenues. Reptiles are moved across international borders to supply an extensive network of breeders, collectors, and pet owners. This study invokes new materialist geographies and the concept of assemblages to characterize the trade in hognose snakes (Heterodon spp.), a genus native to North America and comprised of three species. A mixed methods approach was used to establish 1) what characteristics of hognose snakes have led to their incorporation into the pet trade; and 2) what sites are involved in the hognose pet trade and how does the mutual embeddedness of their spatialities shape an overall topology. Interviews with reptile breeders, participatory observations at reptile shows, and content analysis indicated that the western hognose (H. nasicus) has visual, behavioral, and physiological characteristics that contributed to its incorporation into the trade. Its smaller size, less dramatic displays of bluff aggression, phenotypic variability, and flexible dietary preferences make it more suitable than the eastern or southern hognose. The evolutionarily contingent distribution of western hognose collection sites is embedded within transitory social networks of reptile breeders that operate under highly variable state wildlife regulations. These state to state asymmetries, although greatly contextual, are nonetheless generative in bootstrapping a very fluid and functional trade in hognose. Ordination (non-metric multidimensional scaling) was used to fuse the absolute and relative distances that define these asymmetries into a single visualization of the phase space of the hognose reptile trade. Clusters of states in this mapping corresponded to the categories breeders assigned to states in terms of their openness to the hognose pet trade and in terms of their status as collection states or gateway states for the international market. It is proposed that the hognose snake trade is a robust, self-organizing, horizontal assemblage that could be incorporated into more vertical global and federal wildlife protection initiatives as a form of citizen science. The contingent and ad hoc nature of this assemblage provides an efficient mechanism for promoting not only the emergence of new color patterns (or morphs) that drive the trade, but it also coheres into a self-policing entity with a wealth of resources and knowledge. === A Thesis submitted to the Department of Geography in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. === Fall Semester, 2011. === July 20, 2011. === Assemblage, Biogeography, Heterodon, Hognose, Pet Trade, Wildlife === Includes bibliographical references. === J. Anthony Stallins, Professor Directing Thesis; Philip E. Steinberg, Committee Member; Lisa Jordan, Committee Member.