Of Swamps and Snakes
Posted by Ursula I Abresch 2008-06-01 08:40
On Thursday (May 29) I got to spend 5 hours walking at the Creston Wildlife Management Area (http://www.crestonwildlife.ca/) close to Creston, BC (Canada). This is an area of marshes (wetlands) at the bottom end of Kootenay Lake, on the west side of Creston Valley. It's a great area for birding, and also for other wildlife viewing (elk, moose, deer, coyotes, muskrat, beaver and river otters).
I saw many birds, one moose, 3 river otters, and ... something else.
While I was walking on one of the many pathways, I met a young woman who was sitting in the grass behind a couple trees and bushes next to the path. She is a student at UVIC (University of Victory), working on her PhD. She is studying how animals camouflage, and how their camouflage patterns vary from area to area, even within the same group of animals. We got to talk a little bit. That day she was collecting snakes, garter snakes, and she had just caught a good specimen, a pregnant female! Garter snakes give birth to live little snakes. Anyway - she asked me if I wanted to hold her snake. Now, I had never held a snake before, I had touched snakes, and been close to them, but never actually held one all by myself. I was a little scared. But over my dead body was I going to tell her no, so I said, "Yes, I'd love to!" And I got to hold the snake. She showed me how you can run your finger over her abdomen and feel the little snakes inside. It was beautiful!
Interesting things I learned about garter snakes (besides that they give birth to live young). Their patterns in the BC Interior are different than the patterns they have in the coastal areas. They have only one hole where everything comes out (pee, food waste, babies). They are not as cold to the touch as I thought they would be. They have glands that produce musk that they release, this is what makes the strong smell you get when you're close to one.
But, in my excitement over all of this, I completely forgot to make any pictures of the beautiful snake. Or to ask the young woman for her name. I was just so excited to meet her, and to be able to hold the snake - it made my day!
I saw many birds, one moose, 3 river otters, and ... something else.
While I was walking on one of the many pathways, I met a young woman who was sitting in the grass behind a couple trees and bushes next to the path. She is a student at UVIC (University of Victory), working on her PhD. She is studying how animals camouflage, and how their camouflage patterns vary from area to area, even within the same group of animals. We got to talk a little bit. That day she was collecting snakes, garter snakes, and she had just caught a good specimen, a pregnant female! Garter snakes give birth to live little snakes. Anyway - she asked me if I wanted to hold her snake. Now, I had never held a snake before, I had touched snakes, and been close to them, but never actually held one all by myself. I was a little scared. But over my dead body was I going to tell her no, so I said, "Yes, I'd love to!" And I got to hold the snake. She showed me how you can run your finger over her abdomen and feel the little snakes inside. It was beautiful!
Interesting things I learned about garter snakes (besides that they give birth to live young). Their patterns in the BC Interior are different than the patterns they have in the coastal areas. They have only one hole where everything comes out (pee, food waste, babies). They are not as cold to the touch as I thought they would be. They have glands that produce musk that they release, this is what makes the strong smell you get when you're close to one.
But, in my excitement over all of this, I completely forgot to make any pictures of the beautiful snake. Or to ask the young woman for her name. I was just so excited to meet her, and to be able to hold the snake - it made my day!
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