Water snake recovery in Lake Erie

KELLEYS ISLAND, Ohio, June 9 (UPI) -- Researchers said the Lake Erie water snake has made a comeback and may soon be taken off the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's threatened list.

Richard King, a Northern Illinois University researcher who began studying the Lake Erie water snake in 1979, said a recent roundup of snakes resulted in the capture of more snakes in one day than they would find in a week a decade ago, The Plain Dealer newspaper in Cleveland said Monday.

King's early research resulted in the snakes being designated threatened in 1999. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing the status. Researchers said there are some 12,000 water snakes on the Lake Erie Islands off the Ohio shore. King told the newspaper that there were probably 1,200 adult snakes on the islands 20 years ago.