Chelsea's Journey as a British Columbia Ambassador Candidate : Snakes Alive Show at Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre during Meadowlark Festival

Snakes Alive Featuring a Rattlesnake

During May 14th and May 18th the annual Meadowlark Nature Festival took place through out the Okanagan Valley from Kelowna all the way to Keremeos. During these 5 days, 75 events took place through out the valley ranging from Nature Hikes, Guided tours, seminars and workshops as well as a Gala. Events ran Morning, Afternoons and evenings with ticket prices ranging from Free Admission to $70 [Gala.] I would say on average the events cost between $20-$25.

Osoyoos played host to 9 events taking during the morning and afternoons. I attended 2 of these events on Sunday May 17th, both of which took place at the Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre. The first event I attended started at 10:30 a.m and was called Snakes Alive! Snakes of the South Okanagan - Tour 63, with tickets costing only $5.00. Which to me is insanely cheap for a lecture based event.

Anyway During the morning we learned all about Snakes that are located within the South Okanagan region of BC.

The South Okanagan is widely considered as Snake Territory & habitat. Did you know that the South okanagan is home to Seven different kinds of Snakes? The Garter Snake, the Racer Snake, Rubber Boa, the Night Snake, The Gopher Snake, The Racer Snake and the BC Western Rattle Snake. However the Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre is also home to a Sonoran Albino Gopher snake.

The Sonoran Albino Gopher snake

Many of the Snakes who call the South Okanagan Home are Endangered or considered Snakes of Concern. Two examples are the Racer Snakes which are heat tolerant and considered blue listed or of special concern. Where as the Night Snake is the rarest snake in All of Canada, with only a 100 known observations in the South Okanagan and is classified as Threatened and Endangered. The Rubber Boa is the only kind of Boa Constrictor Snake in Canada.

One of the more common snakes in BC is the Gopher Snake which also happens to be the longest snake in BC.
The Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre is home to a Gopher snake. Also interesting fact Gopher Snakes are fairly similar looking to Rattle Snakes & Can even go so far as to be similar sounding. Gopher snakes can hiss like Rattlesnakes create a Buzzing/Rattle sound via hitting it's tail against the ground which creates a similar Rattle Sound without the actual rattle.

Rattlesnakes in BC

BC Western Rattlesnakes are the only venomous snakes in the Province. One of the quick and distintictive ways to tell a venomous snake from a Non Venmous snake is by the heads including the eyes.

Non Venomous Snakes typically have circular eyes versus the Cat Eye like feature of the venomous snakes. Also Rattle snakes have diamond shaped heads with a distinctive neck.

Rattle snakes have heat sensing pits in their heads to allow them to get heat readings of prey. They also have black tongues.

When a Rattlesnake is born it starts off with a Pre Button which eventually morphs into It's Rattle ending tail. Each time they shed new the buttons continue to form to create the Finely pieced together Rattle Which is actually hollow and creates the iconic sound via rapidly vibrating tails. Now not all Rattlesnakes have rattles.

Did you know that Rattlesnakes Are typically Loner Snakes who tend to be Timid as well as quiet snakes with secretive and cryptic behaviors. Rattle Snakes also tend to be lazy snakes who prefer to stay stationary in one spot as opposed to being active movers. They also tend to be quite habitual and when possible would rather stay still and remain in the same place versus wasting energy to move.

Now Rattlesnakes prefer not to have to attack you hence it's warning signals. If threatened the Rattlesnake can lunge half their size. Rattlesnakes also prefer not to waste their venom as it's consuming to make, energy wise. So sometimes when they bite people, they do what's called a Dry Bite without injecting venom. However when they do attack if they for some reason lose their fangs, they have the ability to have another pair drop down into place immediately.

A Rattlesnake's Venom attacks the red blood cells. The venom has a much quicker impact on Animals than humans. When a rattlesnake bites & injects a Mouse with venom, the mouses's body rapidly breaks down on the inside. After 5 minutes the Insides [Guts] of the Mouse have turned into goo, making his body more pliable & easier to digest.

Did you know that more people die from Bee Stings per year than they do Snake bites? Now if you happen to be bit by a Rattlesnake don't panic as boosts in adrenaline will only speed up the venom. Fear not for Anti Venom is available in Oliver and Penticton. First things first Call for help ASAP [This is why you need to use the buddy system] and get to the hospital as fast as you can. It's highly recommended that you get to a Hospital within 2 hours, however you have a 6-8 Grace period. First remove all restrictive clothing & accessories surrounding the bite such as Shoes, pants, watches, socks etc. If you can draw a circle around the bite & mark it every half hour.

This is to monitor the swelling and if it's able to be done prior to you getting to the hospital, it can speed up your treatment time.

If bittten Absolutely DO NOT Suck out the Poison yourself [Ick blood transmitted diseases] OR Make a Tourniquet!!!! This will only lead to much high health risks for the person who has been bitten.

Snake Facts

One of the things that has further endangered Snakes is loss of natural habitat and because of this Snakes have become communal Denners during Hibernation such as Gophers with the Rattle Snakes. This is totally due to lack of available space for Snake dens. In a Snake Den there can be anywhere from 15 to 20 snakes however numbers can grow as High to 300 to 400 snakes in a den.

Due to the unusually warm March this year [2015] The Snakes ended their hibernation a bit early and started to reappear. Where as they usually hibernate between October and November straight through April or even May. With the snakes starting their return journey to their Winter dens through out September & October. Snakes can travel anywhere from 0mm to 1k.m in a Day if needed. The Rattlesnakes who make Osoyoos their home are often restricted to movement dur to Lake Osoyoos.

During Breeding time Garter Snakes can gather up to the thousands creating a Phenomenon known as Explosive breeding. A Gopher snake simply lays its eggs. Where as Rattlesnakes have live Births and A Mother can produce an Average of 4-6 babies but this number can be as high as 12. There is no parental care between a Mother Rattle Snake & It's off spring. After giving Birth a Rattle Snake will head back to it's den and the babies will simply follow her. Baby Rattle snakes have a morality rate between 10-30% and their Survival Rate is determined by it's first Winter & First Foraging season. However Baby rattle snakes are the most venomous because they are unable to control their venom. Rattle snakes take 7 years to fully mature enough to reproduce.

As for Diet snakes tend to be limited by what they can fit into their mouths. Typically Snakes eat Small mammals and get their water sources directly from the food. Now Cannibalism albeit rare in the wild has been noticed in Captivity. Rattlesnakes have been known to adopt canabilism in the Wild & Gopher snakes have been known to eat small rattlesnakes.

When Snakes shed they tend to become dull in color and their irises tend to turn Blue. This is because while snakes shed they become temporarily blind because snakes even shed their eyes! The Shedding Process can take anywhere from 1-2 days to 1-2 weeks. Over time as snakes Age they become dull in color. This can be one simplistic way to gauge how old a snake is, as it is other wise impossible to determine exact ages of a snake.

Research

The Nk'Mip Snake research program was started in 2002 and is entering it's 15th year. The Snake research Program has become the largest Snake Research group in British Columbia. The Research team catches snakes, take measurements such as Weight/length, Tag them with Pit Tags, assign the snake a serial code number [for life] and release them back into the wild. Through out the years over 1000 snakes have been tagged with 10 currently in active tag zone.

The Pit Tags are smaller than a grain of rice and are inserted into the snake via an injection. Once a Snake has been tagged, it's PIT tag remains with the snake for life. So once a Researcher has a previously tagged snake, they can simply scan them to easily identify a snake. [ Ex Tracking map]

Final Notes

Please do not purchase a Snake as a pet. Snakes can live anywhere from 25 to 50 years and possibly even older. Secondly respect the fact that the Okanagan is Snake Territory. Use walking sticks whilst walking, make use of proper Hiking gear such as Hiking boots, and always examine areas where snakes might be before you approach them i.e step over/around or walk under or ontop of certain places snakes might like to rest.

I thoroughly enjoyed attending this Meadowlark Event and learned so much about Snakes and in particular Snakes that call the South Okanagan Home. I can't wait to plan my next visit to the Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre.