We start our day early by checking the weather. The weather on Pelee Island can be unpredictable and deciding whether or not to survey is often determined the same morning of our potential outing. Blue racers don’t enjoy the rain, so we’re typically only out when the sun is shining. After breakfast on a good weather day, we prepare ourselves for the field. Field work on Pelee Island is challenging, as the island is infamous for its plentiful amounts of poison ivy, thorn-bearing plants and chiggers (a tiny mite with an intensely irritating bite). We try our best to dress appropriately to address these challenges with long pants and shirts, but this can make it difficult not to overheat on Canada’s most southern island!
Our surveys start by recording environmental data, such as cloud cover, wind direction, and temperature. We then set off to find the snakes, in areas that are favourable for blue racers. While we survey we will also record any other snakes we come across, which include eastern foxsnakes, Lake Erie watersnakes, eastern gartersnakes, and Dekay’s brownsnakes.
Blue racers are hard to spot and even more difficult to catch! As their name implies, blue racers can move extremely quickly. Our teams are typically composed of two researchers who walk relatively close to one another. This close proximity is essential because when a snake is spotted the researcher will yell out “RACER!” and a coordinated chase begins! Blue racers are very intelligent snakes and can sometimes see the researchers before the researchers see the snake. Many blue racers are first detected by the sound of them already moving away through the grass and unfortunately losing blue racers amongst dense brush or down holes is not uncommon.
