The diversity of erosion control products and implications for wildlife entanglement

Abstract

Figure 1 (a) A live western rat snake (Pantherophis obsoletus) encountered during a field survey of erosion control blankets at a completed Texas Department of Transportation construction site on April 30, 2018. The snake was entangled in multiple apertures of ECB S32 DB (2-layer erosion control blanket with fused, polypropylene netting) and had to be cut out of the mesh netting. (b) A close up of the body of the same snake where polypropylene mesh was embedded into the flesh of the snake.