Snakes: love ’em or hate ’em, it’s unlikely they’re dangerous

I was a teenager standing knee deep on a quiet shoreline of the Niagara River near the Queenston section of the mighty Niagara Gorge. As I fished and cast my line out into the current, the water carried what appeared to be a floating stick toward my legs.

But the physical protrusion sticking out of the water was not a piece of wood, and was instead a live northern water snake. As you read this, do you feel instant joy or instant horror? We’ll talk about those emotions more in a moment.

It drifted harmlessly towards my legs, and I believe when it realized I was a living thing, it quickly dove under and swam right by my legs, bonking itself off of me before continuing to float downstream. Its beautifully-banded body swam with grace, a minute speck of life in a river whose falls can fill one million bath tubs per minute.

I have rescued these robust yet harmless serpents from resort pools. I’ve watch them eat frogs, small fish and even a smaller water snake once. I’ve seen some so thick they could be mistaken for eels, and some so puny that a plastic straw would be considered stronger. They love quarries, creeks, rivers, the cottage shoreline and big lakes with enough natural habitat available. Simply put and aptly named, they are found near water.

Odds are you have seen the northern water snake at some point in your lifetime. Odds are massively lower that you have seen Ontario’s second species of water snake, the Lake Erie water snake. That is unless you have ventured to Pelee Island or Middle Island, the only locations in Canada where this genetically distinct species is located.

While I was guiding a recent canoe tour in Wainfleet, I witnessed the classic binary responses of people as we paddled closer to four northern water snakes basking together on a floating log. One guest was delighted to see the reptiles getting their necessary ultra-
violet rays, and wanted me to steer her closer. Snakes, like other ectothermic (cold-blooded) organisms, don’t bask in the sun because it feels nice or to catch a tan — this behaviour ensures they can regulate their body temperature, digestive and circulatory systems.

Another guest was open with me about being uncomfortable getting close to snakes, and desired to point the nose of the canoe in the opposite direction. I respect this feeling, and I have spent many years pondering this dichotomous and complex emotional relationship between people and snakes — my favourite animals.

I don’t judge a single soul for being uncomfortable around snakes. Let’s first consider how snakes have been portrayed in history and pop culture.

The snake is seen as an entity of evil and deceit with the story of Adam and Eve. The terrifying mythical wrath of Medusa shows us a female who has snakes for hair. In modern entertainment, pivotal and jarring movie scenes include people falling into snake pits in faraway jungles, and let’s not forget Snakes On a Plane. Even my childhood favourite, The Jungle Book, involves a snake who can’t be trusted as it beguiles an innocent and lost child named Mowgli.

In all practicality and fairness, we must consider that well over half of the world’s population lives within striking distance of potentially deadly snake species. The pun is intended, but also exaggerated. People simply wouldn’t live in Australia, Florida, India or Thailand if dangerous snakes were that frequent a problem. However, these cultures also practise a no-nonsense approach to living with venomous species by using day-to-day precautions, no different than us camping in bear country.

Maybe it is the lack of limbs and the false impression that snakes are slimy that also gets on our human nerves. We have to imagine that early bipeds were wary of slithering creatures near their bare feet and dwellings, so it is also likely that many modern humans carry a DNA package which associates snakes with a perceived threat. Once again, I totally understand peoples’ uneasiness with snakes, and this is where education about our local species comes into play.

Back to our local water snake species, something we have no reason to worry about in Niagara. They are completely harmless. They will only bite if picked up, akin to a child’s pinch.

Our local water snakes eat just about whatever they can fit into their mouths and swallow whole. They also get eaten by coyotes, eagles, owls, larger fish, raccoons and foxes, thus playing an appreciably important role in the balance of the ecosystem’s food web. Healthy food webs are directly linked to the quality of our water and soil, and therefore the quality of life in human society.

Like them, love them, or leave them — we need our water snakes.