Today’s post comes from Nicholas Ypelaar, former assistant Discovery coordinator at Awenda Provincial Park.
“EW! SNAKES!” and/or accompanying fearful shrieks are phrases I’m all too familiar with.
In defense of all those who have zero affinity to the limbless scaled reptiles of the world, I can understand it. My grandmother grew up in Goa, India, where venomous snakes such as cobras and kraits are commonplace.
As humans, we tend to build fears based on what we perceive as dangerous to help us survive. However, we aren’t the only species trying to survive.
I’d like to dispel the myth that Ontario snakes are dangerous through the lens of a particular “bad actor,” the threatened Eastern Hog-nosed Snake.
