Parks Canada using new tool for secretive snake research along the seaway

Parks Canada is working on a special research mission for 2022, to learn more about a threatened snake species along the seaway.

Deep in the Thousand Islands National Park near Mallorytown, Ont., a research team is on the hunt for the elusive gray rat snake.

"It's the only national park in Canada where this species occurs so it's one of our main focuses for conservation work," said Mathieu Lecompte, a Resource Management Officer at the park.

The species is marked as threatened in the region, which could become endangered. Research on these reptiles has been ongoing here for 35 years, according to Lecompte.

This year, the team is using a new tool to help locate these secretive snakes - radio telemetry.

"We just started that this spring," Lecompte said. "It's a process where the snakes have been implanted with radio transmitters and we're able to pick up their unique radio signals using this receiver and antenna."

"As we get closer to the snakes, they start giving out a beep and we are able to track them right down throughout the national park," he said.

The Parks Canada team working in the wetland at Thousand Islands National Park, searching for gray rat snakes. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)

Five snakes in total have the transmitters, and the crew goes out once a week to try to locate them.

"Since they are so secretive, we're able to locate them every week, but they are moving around quite a bit," Lecompte said. "One moved 2.2 kilometres in one week."

"Often we can't see them as they are inside a tree, or up in a tree, but we know they are there," he added. 

Lecompte has locked in on two frequencies in the park, on snakes named Bandit and Houdini.

"We're thinking it's in one of these trees up here," he said, pointing skyward. 

But as the beeps get louder, the location puts them in a marshy wetland.

"We thought he was in the trees, but we were able to triangulate from the other side and he ended up being between us in the grass," Lecompte noted. "There is likely two of them travelling through the grass, probably looking for some food or travelling to their next spot."

As the team slowly walks through the marsh, one of the snakes scampers by.

"There it is!" they yell and point, visible for merely seconds. 

The waving grass the only sign the snake is below. While they managed to spot it a few times, it quickly disappears into the thick greenery.  

"There it is, so hard to see," Lecompte smiles. 

Houdini the snake lives up to its name, making an escape.

For those looking to get a glimpse of a gray rat snake, one will soon be on display at the Aquatarium in Brockville. 

Alice the gray rat snake who will soon be on display at the Aquatarium in Brockville, Ont. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)

Named Alice, the new exhibit is expected to open next week in a partnership with Parks Canada.

"Gray rat snakes aren't dangerous actually, they are quite gentle as you can see," said Aquatarium Program Coordinator Tanis Cowan pointing to the snake. "This is very normal behaviour for Alice."

Part of the exhibit is to help educate the community about the longest snake in Canada, and that the non-venomous creature is no threat to humans. 

"The important part is to just help people understand that there is no reason to be afraid of gray rat snakes or snakes in our yards, in our farms, or in the community," Cowan said. 

"We tried to think of a few fun ways to talk about the snakes in our yards and on the trails and just make it approachable for the kids so they could have some fun learning and playing," she noted. 

The exhibit will be hands on, including a tic-tac-toe-like game to learn about Alice, along with video presentations. 

"They do help keep the rat and the rodent population down and that in term can help keep the tick population down so it's an important relationship," Cowan said. 

"They are more afraid of us then we are of them and we can just give them their space," she added. 

Back in the park, the team called the day successful tracking Bandit and Houdini. Often the snakes are located in trees or along the edge of a swampy area. To be found in the wetland, was a first.

"We collected the valuable information we were looking for," Lecompte said. "We just saw two in the grass, which is not uncommon, but new for us this year."

The project will continue into the fall, collecting information on how far they travel and their hibernating habits. Parks Canada will use the data to better conserve and protect the species.

"They don't make it easy for us," Lecompte smiled. "They are out exploring the forestry, so we are often going all over the park. They keep us busy!"