Garter Snake
Just to be clear, I am not a fan of snakes. I do not hate them but, they really creep me out. So I do my best to avoid all snakes. Fortunately, the only species of snake that naturally inhabits the Lac Seul region is the generally harmless, non-poisonous garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis). Just to clarify, the bite of a garter snake is now known to contain venom. However, the venom is a mildly neuro-toxic but not considered dangerous to humans. It is a carnivorous reptile whose diet consists of small insects, grasshoppers, slugs, earthworms, fish, amphibians and small rodents. Garter snakes grow to a length of between 46 and 137 cm so are classified as a medium sized snake.
The garter snake occupies a variety of terrestrial and semi-aquatic habitats close to water but does not reside in water. It is the most widespread type of snake in North America. The colours and body patterns of the garter snake vary from region to region but generally it has three distinct body stripes (two along the sides and one on top) and a dark head with a distinct shape. Garter snakes hibernate from October to early April and prefer to cluster together in natural burrows or in large dens. Some of these snakes may travel great distances in order to hibernate in a specific location or within a particular den.
In 2017 optimum weather conditions persisted into late autumn so I headed out for the day to carry out some late season archaeological field research. This work involved digging a series of test pits along an established grid within the forested interior of the boreal forest to verify the parameters of a known site. In the early afternoon, as I was shaving the ground with my trowel, I was somewhat surprised (and a lot dismayed) to see a dust covered garter snake appeared in my test pit. It slithered away and I was able to continue on with my task but I did feel a bit unnerved at the experience. Upon completion I moved on to the next test pit which was five meters away (along the established grid with a designated test pit interval of 5 meters). As I removed the top layer of leaf litter and loose organic matter I exposed another snake. It declined to move away and instead looked up flicking out its forked tongue. Okay, so in all my many years of digging previously, I had never encountered a snake. Now, I had two uncovered in a row!
I firmly believe that nature has many ways of conveying a signal to humanity. Most of the time we are either oblivious to the message or just choose to ignore it. I am frequently guilty of this when I am out doing and so focused on the research that I neglect to look around and pay attention. Today, however, nature had my full attention. I looked down at the snake. It had not moved but its tongue continued with an occasional flicker. So I said out loud ``Well Brad, let`s just call it a day``. I carefully shifted the upper layer of leaves and organic matter back in place slowly covering over the snake. Then, I packed up all my gear and headed home knowing that this was the end of my fieldwork for this year.
