Reptile Rescue

In 2022, FoHVOS received a grant to develop the Reptile Rescue Project. The goal of the project is to find solutions to excessive vehicle-related mortalities and reduce roadway risks to wildlife in Hopewell Valley.

The FoHVOS Reptile Rescue project was designed to better identify high-risk road crossings and develop strategies to mitigate threats. Using information provided by NJ Fish & Wildlife, Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP), specifically the CHANJ program (Connecting Habitats Across New Jersey), along with wildlife enthusiasts, FoHVOS staff, Hopewell Township Environmental Commission, and the Mercer County Wildlife Center, 38 roads were identified as high-risk wildlife crossing locations. FoHVOS then organized and trained a group of dedicated volunteers to collect data on living and non-living wildlife observations on each road.

With the help of our volunteers and FoHVOS staff, the roads were monitored throughout the season and a specific dataset was collected for each observation. Based on the results from the first year of the project, FoHVOS was able to focus monitoring efforts on two high-risk roads during the 2023 season that have attributes that could qualify them for a potential future installation of wildlife crossing culverts. One of the requirements to qualify for such an installation is to obtain multiple consecutive years of data that support the statement of need. While we continue to collect this data, FoHVOS is also initiating other mitigation efforts.

In the early spring of 2023, 20 aluminum signs were created and installed along roads in Hopewell Valley that have a high potential for vehicle-related mortalities to warn drivers and raise awareness of increased crossing activity. The sign locations were chosen based on data collected from the previous year and information provided by ENSP. With the permission from private landowners, Mercer County Park Commission, DNR Greenway, and the use of our own preserves, the FoHVOS Reptile Rescue Project was successful in installing all 20 signs in high-risk areas known to have a high occurrence of vehicle strikes and mortalities. FoHVOS will continue to work with ENSP (CHANJ), Hopewell Township Environmental Commission, NJ Fish and Wildlife, and Mercer County to share information and highlight areas that would be most effective for underground culvert crossings or other suitable mitigation methods applicable to the specific locations. 

Local wildlife enthusiasts and dedicated volunteers

One of 20 signs installed on high-risk roads
Eastern Box Turtle
Black Racer
  • Volunteers survey roads either on foot, by bicycle, or by car searching for living, injured, and dead wildlife on the roadways.
  • The top three wildlife found on surveyed roads were frogs (unknown species), garter snakes, and milksnakes
  • Reptiles and amphibians are often observed on roads after heavy rains or thunderstorms, during the spring and fall, after an end to a prolonged drought, and when the road is warmer than the surrounding environment on cooler days (when the sun warms the asphalt in the morning, or after sunset when the asphalt still retains some heat).
  • Wildlife observation data collection included the following:
    Date/Time
    Road Name
    Method of travel (foot/bike/car)
    GPS location
    Species ID
    Type of Observation (alive, injured, mortality, No Observation)
  • In addition to reporting all wildlife observations (living, dead, and injured), it is also very important for our surveyors to report every instance that yields NO OBSERVATIONS (i.e., no animals observed on the road). Recording no observations helps us determine whether a road has a high rate of wildlife crossings. For example, if one road was surveyed 10 times but had 75 wildlife observations and another road was surveyed 100 times and also had 75 wildlife observations, we know the first road has a much higher rate of crossing activity, despite both roads having 75 wildlife observations.