Cottage Q&A
QUESTIONOur cottage on Lake Huron has an old, L-shaped crib dock. The cribbing is now mostly exposed, since the water levels have dropped in recent years. As a result, snakes have begun living in the dock. They are becoming quite numerous and the kids (and adults) are starting to shy away from using the dock or swimming near it. Can we do anything to discourage them?
ANSWER
You're playing host to northern water snakes (Nerodia sipedon), say the wildlife biologists we consulted. And your exposed crib dock - handy to water, full of sun-warmed rocks for basking on and cozy crevices for hiding in - comes pretty close to a water snake's idea of paradise.
No known chemical repellents work against snakes, says Ross MacCulloch, assistant curator of herpetology at the Royal Ontario Museum, and physical barriers are obviously impractical in your case. Short of dismantling the dock completely, there's not much you can do to prevent them from gathering there.
Jan McDonnell, a wildlife biologist with the Ministry of Natural Resources in Bracebridge, Ont., suggests that, instead, your family take this opportunity to learn more about your cohabitants. Northern water snakes are common throughout cottage country, feeding on frogs, fish, and tadpoles. They're superb swimmers, with a reputation for being inquisitive while in the water. They may approach human swimmers to check them out, but are not aggressive, and prefer to swim (or on land, slither) away from danger. If handled or threatened, they can inflict a painful (though not venomous) bite. But then, points out McDonnell, so can a mouse. Otherwise, they're harmless as well as fascinating and beautiful. And they're running out of habitat at an alarming rate. (Water snakes are a protected species in Ontario.) So appreciation and peaceful coexistence are your best options.
* Published in the September/October 2003 issue of Cottage Life
