Checking on hibernating snakes

Publié lejanvier 20, 2021parOjibway Massasauga|Massasauga de l'Est, Actualités et événements, Rétablissement des reptiles des prairies Ojibway

Qu'est-ce que le Programme de rétablissement des reptiles de la prairie Ojibway ? Le complexe de la prairie Ojibway et le grand écosystème du parc (OPCGPE) dans la région de Windsor-LaSalle en Ontario abrite plusieurs espèces de reptiles menacées par le développement urbain, la fragmentation de l'habitat et la mortalité routière, notamment les couleuvres fauves de l'Est, les couleuvres à petite tête, les tortues mouchetées et une population en danger critique de massasaugas. L'équipe de rétablissement des reptiles de la prairie Ojibway (OPRREC) travaille à protéger, rétablir et surveiller ces espèces.

In this video, Kelly Antaya, field technician for the Ojibway Prairie Reptile Recovery program in Windsor-Essex region, Ontario, uses a borescope camera to check on the eastern garter snakes hibernating in one of our artificial hibernaculum.

WPC’s hibernation habitat study is just one part of a larger effort to prepare for an eastern massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus) reintroduction. Snakes have a unique natural history and complex needs to survive the winter, including requiring appropriate overwintering burrows. The perfect burrow will allow snakes to get below the frost line, and be deep enough that they can access the water table to prevent desiccation while hibernating.

Read more about WPC’s hibernation habitat study by clicking here.

What to know more about how the artificial hibernacula are built and installed? Watch the video below!

Kelly Antaya

Field Technician – Ojibway Prairie Reptil Recovery

Kelly started working with Wildlife Preservation Canada as an intern, and is now a field technician. She has worked in reptile conservation throughout Ontario, and has also assisted on population studies of skinks and snakes on islands in northern Madagascar. Kelly is a graduate of Fleming College, where she received her diploma in ecosystem management.