Black Rat Snake, A Species at Risk
- Nick Tardif
- Apr 4, 2015
- 3 min read
Victims of superstitions, loss of suitable habitat and road mortality, the Black Rat Snake is a threatened species in Ontario and across Canada.
“The basic reason why it’s threatened is mainly due to habitat loss and public perception and obviously road mortality plays into that,” says Frontenac Provincial Park Superintendent Ben Chabot.
Designated a “threatened” species across Canada in 1998, the Black Rat Snake is likely to find its way onto the “endangered” list, if the factors causing its vulnerability are not addressed.
The loss of habitat has resulted in a fragmented population in Ontario with only two remaining areas of suitable habitat, the Carolinian Forest region along Lake Erie and the Frontenac Axis region in southeastern Ontario.
“The Frontenac Axis is in general, a kind of a hotbed for the rat snake. It has the environment for it to survive in, and I think it’s also because the Frontenac Axis is so rugged, development’s been limited,” says Chabot.
The Frontenac Axis is an ancient geological feature of granite that joins the Adirondack Mountains in New York State to the Canadian Shield in southeastern Ontario.
The Rat Snake is not poisonous, says Chabot, “It’s a constrictor. Its Canada’s longest snake. It’s basically a key part of the food chain. It eats a lot of smaller mammals, mice and things like that, so it helps to keep that part of the ecosystem in balance.”
Along with the vulnerabilities of loss of habitat and public persecution, the Rat Snake has its own natural dangers to contend with in the wild. In nature’s food chain, the Rat Snake doesn’t get an exemption because it’s on our threatened list.
“Larger raptors could eat it: hawks, eagles, birds like that, even owls. Anything that would generally see any kind of snake as food would consider a rat snake as food,” says Chabot.
Ontario Parks is taking a proactive approach on educating its visitors on the benefits of the Rat Snake, as well as asking them assist in conserving the Rat Snake by being the park’s eyes on the ground.
“We accept sightings from the visiting public in Frontenac. It’s really neat to get those sightings. We feed those sightings back through our park’s ecologist into a provincial database. It’s wonderful to contribute to that. We have this protected area here and we seem to have a population that’s certainly holding its own, and it’s really nice that we can contribute to that,” says recently retired Frontenac Park Superintendent Peter Dawson.
A parks ecologist studies ways to promote pro-environmental behaviours and proper resource management. A parks ecologist works closely with the Ministry of Natural Resources to implement conservation ideas.
As the arrival of spring is at hand, the Rat Snake, along with other reptiles, should soon to begin immerging from their hibernaculums. A hibernaculum, similar to a bear’s den, is an underground cavity below the frost line where snakes go to hibernate. Although not territorial, Black Rat Snakes are loyal to their hibernaculums and return each year. Maintaining suitable habitat for their hibernaculum is essential for the survival of the Rat Snake.
“It’s going to take some warm weather to kind of get a kick start, because they’re in the hibernaculas right now, so usually by late April they’re coming out,” says Chabot.
However, as spring rolls in, the roads can become an irresistible temptation for Rat Snakes and reptiles alike to sun themselves. Signs are one strategy used to warn motorists of high animal traffic areas.
“In areas where there is high snake traffic, or turtle traffic, sometimes you’ll see ‘Please brake for snakes or turtles,’ ” says Chabot.
The fate of the Black Rat Snake in Canada lies in education and conservation.
“The biggest thing is probably public education. I think that’s an important thing we need to do. I think because the rat snake is the longest snake in Canada, people think it’s going to be mean but in reality, the Rat Snake isn’t a very aggressive snake,” says Chabot.
Comments