About 90 minutes north of Winnipeg, thousands of red-sided garter snakes are emerging from underground limestone caverns. Each spring, the Narcisse Snake Dens becomes one of the largest snake gatherings on the planet, and thanks to the cooler-than-usual season, there’s still time to visit this Manitoba wonder.
“This year was definitely a little bit more delayed than other years, especially with the melt,” said Melanie de Peña, a wildlife biologist with Manitoba Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures. Despite this, activity is well underway. “Dens two and three are the most active. There are a couple of hundred snakes active at the dens. They’re starting their mating rituals.”
Each year, the number of snakes and when they begin their ritual vary, but peak in late May.
How has Manitoba become one of the premier snake-gathering locations, and how do reptiles even survive in the winter? According to De Peña, that’s thanks to low soil concentrations and the type of stone in the area. As far as stone goes, limestone is pretty soft. Formed from the remains of marine creatures like snails or coral, it’s incredibly porous. Over thousands of years, water eroded the limestone bedrock, forming deep crevices and tunnels.
“Other snakes might have to find a ground squirrel hole, a deep crevice, or a rock wall, just to survive the winter,” said De Peña, “But because of these dens and these pits in the area, they’re able to allow a bunch of snakes to gather all together and survive the winter.”
The snakes huddle together in these limestone crevices, just below the frost line, and enter brumation, the reptilian equivalent of hibernation. Here, tens of thousands of snakes will wait out the winter. When spring hits, sometimes over 70,000 will emerge, looking to mate and create the next generation of garter snakes.
“It’s considered one of the largest congregations of snakes in the world, because of this specialty habitat that allows the snakes to survive the winter,” De Peña said. “The Narcisse area is home to a lot of grassland, aspen parkland, and wetlands. That’s perfect for feeding the snakes, too. So you have the perfect place to overwinter, and then you have great summer habitat to feed and survive.”
When the snakes first begin to wake after winter, it’s the males that enter the large dens to wait for females. Once the females emerge, these dens become massive swirling “mating balls.” After mating, females will leave to feed and then give birth later in the summer. Unlike many other reptiles, garter snakes do not lay eggs; instead, they give birth to live litters of around 30 “snakelets,” no longer than a finger.
The thing about snakes is that many people do not like them; roughly one-third of people report feeling anxious around them. De Peña said that’s another great part of the area: the educational opportunities to change fear and anxiety into wonder and appreciation. “I think education is going to be one of the top-tier ways to get people invested.”
Each year, thousands of people, including school groups and international tourists, visit the site. On peak days, De Peña said there can be as many as 1,000 to 3,000 visitors. Although the site doesn’t offer formal tours, wildlife branch staff serve as interpreters and can help visitors with any of their snake-related questions.
With June still a bit away, there’s still a chance to visit and experience one of nature’s most remarkable gatherings.
– Ryan Funk, U Multicultural
