Narcisse Snake Dens, Manitoba Interlake Region, Manitoba, Canada
When I was younger, Manitoba’s snake dens were much less publicized than they are today. There was a small parking lot, no washrooms and no interpretive signs. But there were red-sided garter snakes, tens of thousands of them and there still are. A definite “must see” especially in the first week or two of May each year when the snakes are leaving their underground limestone caves where they have spent the winter. For more info visit the Gov’t of Manitoba site:
Trails are now well marked with interpretive signs along the way.
Just a small sample of the number of snakes that emerge each Spring from the underground snake pits and caves in the Narcisse, Manitoba area.
The Western Red-Sided Garter Snake eats just about anything meaty from slugs to rodents and small birds and the open grassland nature of Manitoba’s Interlake Region seems to suit them just fine. The limestone structure of this region provides ample locations to hide and breed during the summer months and provides the myriad of underground cave structures where the snakes can spend the colder months in a semi-dormant hibernation state.
Update: Fall 2011
One of my Narcisse photos published in a Frommer’s Far & Wide: A Weekly Guide to Canada’s Best Travel Experiences
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