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If you lack Internet access, you can report your sightings from the Bruce Peninsula by calling the local MNR office in Owen Sound and speaking to the wildlife biologist or ecologist or by calling Bruce Peninsula National Park (see section 7). Since misidentification of snakes is always a possibility, providing a photograph of the snake may help officials confirm the species.

3. BE A CONCERNED CAMPER, COTTAGER, OR PROPERTY OWNER


 
 

Cottage development on the
Bruce Peninsula.

Concerned campers, cottagers, and property owners around the Bruce Peninsula can minimize stress on snake populations by:
  • accepting snakes in all areas of the Bruce;
     
  • allowing unused property to return to a natural state;
     
  • retaining brush piles instead of burning them;
     
  • allowing natural vegetation to grow;
     
  • attending workshops on rattlesnake conservation;
     
  • learning more about the wildlife in your area.

4. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WILDLIFE OF THE BRUCE PENINSULA

Many rare bird, plant, insect and reptile species live in and around the Bruce Peninsula. You can learn about the massasauga and other species in your area by contacting the resources in Section 7.
 
STEWARDSHIP AT WORK IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Bruce Peninsula Region (as seen in the Rattlesnake Tales newsletter vol.11, No. 1)

“Daddy, there’s a rattler on the sand pile”

By Joyce Mackenzie Hirasawa

If you happen to be a permanent or occasional resident of the Bruce Peninsula and the parents of small children, in all likelihood you would take the above statement seriously and move quickly to investigate. So we did. Indeed it was a rattler.

Let me situate you a bit. Three years ago we purchased a Lake Huron waterfront property. The property encompasses 14 acres of woods, mixed bush, open areas, marsh and rocky waterfront. It is very private. We are very fortunate in that we share this beautiful environment with an abundance of wildlife: bear, deer, fox, skunk, raccoon and porcupine. The early riser might see a great blue heron perched on a rock. We have frogs, salamanders, garter snakes, mud turtles, water snakes, smooth green snakes, fox snakes and yes, the eastern massasauga rattler.

Until we put a road in, the property had never been touched. To reach the open area where we spent most of our time, we would hike in along a surveyor’s cut. During the course of an average day we might spot one full-grown rattler somewhere along the surveyor’s cut, another in an open clearing. Another day, we might see one down by the water, and later, yet another slithering out from under the cabin which is quite

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