March 11th, 2006
adventures with watersnakes # 1
A few days ago, when writing about my phenology calendar, I made mention of an aggregation of Northern Water Snakes on the Tay River near Perth. This is a story about that field trip – “part one” of a couple of posts which I’ll be writing about water snakes.
I first met my friend, Michele, at a talk which I gave on canoeing the small waterways in eastern Ontario. We immediately hit it off and agreed to get together for a canoe trip as soon as the rivers were flowing that spring. The day finally came – May 28, 2002 – and conditions were just about perfect for an outing. Sunny with calm air, smooth water, and abundant bird activity in the trees along the banks of the Tay. We put in at the docks at Last Duel Park, then paddled downstream towards the Tay Marsh.
Not long after embarking, we spotted a large water snake rapidly swimming just ahead of the canoe. It seemed so determined and purposeful as it raced to some unknown destination, that I suggested we follow it for awhile. Within about a half kilometer, the snake arrived at the site of a small tree which, due to erosion of the riverbank, had fallen partly to one side so that many of its branches reached down into the water. Our snake immediately slithered up one of these branches and proceeded to wind it’s way toward the center of the tree. It was then that we saw a pair of huge water snakes, bodies coiled together and draped over a branch with tails entwined and hanging a couple of feet below. Their large, coarse scales were dull and dark in colour. Both snakes were probably close in diameter to that of my wrist. By their motions, we could see that they were copulating. The snake which we had followed made directly for the pair and slithered back and forth over them before moving into another part of the tree. We then noticed a couple of other large snakes moving about in the branches and occasionally passing over the mating pair. Soon, a very large water snake came up alongside our canoe, looking more curious than nervous. It too slithered up into the tree.
I decided to try to shoot some video of the “snake tree” with a recently purchased DV camcorder. However, there was no way to approach the tree except by paddling almost beneath it. I admit to having been somewhat apprehensive about maneuvering under the tree in case a snake fell down into the canoe with us. As I didn’t know Michele too well, I wasn’t sure how she might feel about that. I looked at the bag with my digital camera and DVcam and imagined what might happen to the camera gear if the canoe tipped and we ended up in the water. I asked Michele how she felt about going in close to the tree and she said that was okay with her. Michele is a biologist, and as it turned out, she told me that she had worked mainly in tropical forestry, so she was cool about being in close proximity to snake. I was so relieved to find that she was just the right person to be paddling with that day.
I shot some video — the above photo is a frame grab from some footage — not great, but gives some idea of how the pair of snakes looked when coiled together in the tree. After getting a bit of footage, we continued downriver as far as Tay Marsh. Along the way, we met more snakes swimming rapidly upriver. We surmised that they might be on their way to the “snake tree”. In fact, we were quite correct. When we stopped to revisit the tree on the return trip, it was now filled with snakes. What a great sight it was! There were snakes slithering up and down the branches, some passing over the two very large snakes which, now separated, were quietly coiled on branches about a meter apart. Some snakes were extremely active, hanging from branches as they waved their heads about. One rowdy individual was hanging at almost full length by the end of its tail and was swinging about like mad until it slipped loose and flipped out of the tree to fall like a bungee jumper into the water just a few inches from the gunwales of the canoe. It was like one big snake circus and had us both laughing at the antics. Michele and I have had several other super canoe outings since then, but the “bungee-jumping snake” holds a special place as a memory, and as one of those “code words” that can make us both laugh.
Another water snake adventure to come . . .
Tags: Northern Water Snake, Nerodia sipedon sipedon, Tay River, Perth
March 11th, 2006 at 9:48 pm
Quite an experience Bev, I’d be interested to learn a bit more about them.
March 12th, 2006 at 1:07 pm
Duncan – I’ll be posting more about water snakes very soon. However, in the meantime, here are a few notes about them. They’re quite common in Ontario. I do a great deal of canoeing and see them quite regularly. Younger snakes are strongly patterned with blotches (see some of the photos on the websites I’ve linked to). Older snakes are often so dark that the pattern cannot be seen. They have “keeled” scales – the scales have a raised line down the center so that they are slightly tent-shaped. I’ll be posting a photo with my next “adventures with watersnakes” that should illustrate the scales fairly well. Northern Water Snakes are not particularly large – growing to about a meter or so, but the older ones can have quite a thick body. I’ve found that they seem less nervous than most snakes, perhaps because they are can usually make good an escape into the water. Some people describe them as “aggressive”, but most of the time, I’ve just found them to be curious. They will sometimes approach my canoe, and have also approached me when I’ve been splashing around at the water’s edge. I believe they’re attracted by sounds which might signify some prey such as frogs, but they generally move away again as soon as they’ve had a look. I’ve never been bitten by one, but I’ve been told that they will bite very aggressively and repeatedly if provoked. Here are a couple of links with some more info. This is the page on Northern Water Snakes from the website of the Canadian Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Network, and this page, written by Jeff LeClere, is from the Iowa Herpetology website. I should mention that the Northern Water Snake is not venomous. In fact, we have very few poisonous snakes in Canada – in my province, just one species, the Massasauga, which has a very restricted range around Georgian Bay in the Great Lakes region. The other species is the Western Rattlesnake, which is found only in the western provinces. – bev
March 12th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
What a fascinating recount of your observations! I love watching snakes; such amazing creatures. If you’re interested, Bev, take a look at my garter snake pics taken at the well in my yard. They are a regular source of entertainment at our house! http://community.webshots.com/album/324234458gpVdFf
March 12th, 2006 at 3:41 pm
Great photos, Randa. Have the snakes been using the stones around the well as a hibernaculum for many years? It’s neat to have something like that right in your yard where you can observe the activity from year to year!
March 14th, 2006 at 10:32 am
I don’t think I have ever seen a watersnake in a tree, let alone such a group. Very interesting observation notes. Have you seen other such snake trees?
March 14th, 2006 at 12:12 pm
I have since seen water snakes in trees – probably due to the fact that I’m now watching for them. However, I have yet to see another large aggregation such as this. I didn’t actually know that this behaviour was common until I read Jeff LeClere’s piece on water snakes on the Iowa Herpetology website (see section on “Habits” further down the page). I expect that tree climbing activities may be quite frequent among several species of snakes. For example, two years ago, a friend and I observed and photographed Smooth Green Snakes (Opheodrys vernalis) moving about in some low White Cedar and spruce trees. They seemed quite comfortable as they twined about in the branches. They were also almost invisible, which leads me to wonder if snakes hanging out in trees could be a lot more common than we realize. (Maybe I’ll post some photos and a short bit about them this morning). I’ve also tracked a very large Black Rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta) as it moved through a forest. Its progress up and over obstacles was impressive. At one point, it raised itself up onto a fallen tree and used this as a bridge to cross a small ravine. In fact, that’s where we parted company as I wasn’t up to the climb. (-: