Please break for
snakes!!!
by sim1snakes!!!
Please brake for snakes!!!
I like spotting unusual signs, and I thought this was a nice one. It did make me aware though that there are snakes in Killbear Park... eeks!!! Hahaha, but no worries though, with a little bit of common sence you don't have to worry about them. Mmmm, actually, I didn't see any :-( Would love to have seen some, hahaha, only if they are not too close to my tent though :-)
Killbear is home to one of Ontario's few remaining populations of Eastern Massassauga Rattlesnake. These venomous snakes may be located anywhere in the park and are a protected species. The Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake is a heavy bodied snake 50-80 cm in length, and has a segmented rattle at the tip of the tail. Rattlesnakes generaly avoid human contact. When disturbed, a rattlesnake usually would attempt to escape to protective cover and may rattle its tail as a warning. If provoked, a rattlesnake may defend itself by attempting to bite. However if you maintain an appropriate distance (>2 metres) the snake will not strike. And to really ease your mine... no visitor to the Killbear park has been bitten by a rattlesnake....... so far ;-)
Maybe I should warn you for some real dangers here : Mosquitos and black flies!!! Arghhh! Yes, they are here, and plenty of them! And believe me... they bite :-(( I used repellent, and that helped quite a bit. But I didn't use it all over... sigh... and of course these bugs knew exactly to find these uncovered spots :-( Auch!
Killbear is also in bear country, but the chances of spotting a bear is very slim. And of course there are lots of raccoons around! So make sure to put all your food in the car and throw your garbage away, and leave nothing on the campground or in your tent.
