Jenn Bailey is reaching out to see if Headwaters Nature members might enjoy helping her with snake monitoring at Island Lake. Ontario Nature is her partner, while the Upper Grand District School Board supports and funds the research.
Jenn Bailey is a long-time friend of our youngest and was a star pupil in a Summer Outdoor Education Teacher Certification course I helped teach several years ago. She is now the outdoor education teacher at the Island Lake Centre for the Upper Grand School Board. The centre is one of a dwindling number of such experiential nature programmes in the province. She is excellent in many ways.
The survey involves checking under 24 boards for snakes, though we may find nothing. Any snakes, other reptiles, or amphibians we locate must be recorded. Tasks include:
* identifying any herps we find
* photographing reptiles and amphibians (for snakes, top and side of the head against a grid, plus total body length)
* recording other relevant data
* noting time spent under each of the 24 boards and calculating the total
* following sanitation protocols (using alcohol-based hand sanitizer before and after handling snakes)
Jenn has done Ontario Nature’s project training last spring and helped set up 24 monitoring boards in the park. Ontario Nature suggests having at least two people for the surveys, and she is currently solo out there.
She doesn’t submit data until spring. She would like to use this fall as a great time to practice catching and handling snakes, taking photos and measurements, and logging everything. It would be nice to build some confidence before the real work starts next year.
Surveys would begin at 7:30 AM, and the process should take no more than an hour. The boards are a 10-minute walk from the Akinomaagaamikoong (Outdoor Ed) building at Island Lake Conservation Area.
Because the permit ends after September, most surveys will occur next spring, beginning in May.
Jenn would need to provide participant names to Ontario Nature so they can be included on the permit.
If you know anyone who might be willing to wade into brush during tick season to handle snakes and record data carefully, please let her know at info@onheadwatersnature.ca for more information.
Anyone with a working knowledge of herps, field survey experience, or simply a willingness to solve problems and having a good sense of humour is welcome.
I strongly support this research project and ask that we in Headwaters Nature do the same.
Eastern Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis, ssp. sirtalis