Distribution maps

[shaggybill]

How accurate are these maps they put out? The reason I ask is because the map for the copperhead ends about 50 miles from my house to the south, and the southernmost Massassagua Rattler ever reported to the Indiana DNR was abut 30 miles north of where I live. Is it possible these snakes could live a little ways outside their distribution maps?

[Jeff_Favelle]

How accurate are these maps they put out?

Depends on the source and depends on the animal in question and depends on the date of publication.

Is it possible these snakes could live a little ways outside their distribution maps?

Totally! Range maps are man-made. And with that comes error. No one person or organization has the time to find every single animal of every meta-population to create a range map. So they gather the data of known specimens with known origins. Then they formulate the maps from this data. Its crude, but it works for MOST intents and purposes. But animals move so their range maps have far more error and deviation than say plants or fungi. But such is life...

[shaggybill]

Well, if ya have time, look at a map of north central Indiana here ...http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py?Pyt=Tmap&ed=tHla_Op_0TrcxOZJvUtlRkWEzP_oCxK2BScoD5aWLD0zWWH 7VVXZ88svj_bql0Ev&csz=Frankfort,+IN&country=us&cs=4&name=&desc=&poititle=&poi=&uz=46041&ds=n&BFKey=&BFCat=&BFClient=&mag=4&newmag=3 You'll have to zoom out to get a good idea of where Frankfort is.

And look at the map of the copperhead range and tell me if you think its humanly ( or animaly) possible that they might live close to me. http://herpcenter.ipfw.edu/index.htm?http://herpcenter.ipfw.edu/outreach/accounts/reptiles/snakes/N_Copperhead/&2

I just checked the copperhead link and it doesnt work. You'll have to click on the species accounts to the left of the page. Then go to the snakes and its in the copperhead section.