Narcisse Snake Dens, Manitoba

Smaller snake groups emerging out of cracks

Red-sided Garter Snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis)

 So this entire blog entry will be a whole lot of pictures of garter snakes! That is exactly what you get if you visit Narcisse Snake Dens. This is the largest snake hibernacula in Canada! It is not  bio-diverse but the sheer numbers of snakes is unbelievable. I highly recommend adding it to your bucket list of places to visit (mostly if you actually like snakes).

Massive snake ball, Narcisse Snake Dens, MB

I am not surprised that snakes can suffocate in these things...

  The larger snake balls were definitely the largest I have ever seen in my life! These were over a foot deep and at least 3-4 feet wide. They are constantly moving and snakes are poking their heads out of the top and sides so that they can actually breathe.

Massive snake ball, Narcisse Snake Dens, MB

Massive snake ball, Narcisse Snake Dens, MB

 Somehow I managed to get a few shots of snakes on their own if they were emerging or on their way to the mating scene. 

Red-sided Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) coming out of a hole 

 Garter snakes aren't usually known for being climbers but they sure proved that they can. There were mating balls forming in many of the shrubs. Possibly this is due from snakes falling off higher rock faces down onto these shrubs but some males were seen climbing up to the balls so they could join in.

Red-sided Garter Snakes

 Not all the snakes were extremely active, although most were. A few were seen sitting in or near the cracks in the rock just catching some sun while all the other snakes slither over top of them.

Red-sided Garter Snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis)

Red-sided Garter Snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis)

This little guy looked tired... wonder why!

 Garter snake statue in town near the dens

  After a nice day out at the dens we had a lot of photos and were surprisingly tired considering the day didn't involve much walking. The snakes mostly just come to you because they are everywhere!

A good group of people to go out with

Spruce Woods Provincial Park, Manitoba

 A group of friends and I have been itching to get out of the city since the weather has been wonderful in Manitoba. So we planned on going camping as soon as Spruce Woods Provincial Park opened for the season. Unfortunately weather had other plans and the temperature dropped suddenly just for that weekend! A day trip out to the park was a nice compromise though and the weather was nice enough for that.

Ramalina sinensis

Teloschistes chryosophthalmus

Ramalina sinensis

While other people were looking for lichens and mammals/birds I definitely was keeping my ears open for that distinct slither. Expecting a garter snake and hoping for a hognose I really was shocked to find a young smooth green snake!

Smooth Green Snake (Opheodrys vernalis)

Spruce Woods is unlike any other area I have seen in Manitoba. The contrast between the flat prairies, rugged Canadian shield and flat alvar regions that I have been to is vast. Here the area is full of rolling hills of sand. Scattered spruce trees grow out of a mat of dwarf shrubs like juniper and bearberry. 

 Tumbleweed lichens such as Cetraria arenaria, were frequently found caught in grasses and other locations that they get stuck whenever they blow away. I imagine this happens frequently to disperse them since they really don't have much of an anchor to the substrate underneath.We even managed to find an unusual lichen, Xanthoparmelia chlorochroa growing on the sand dunes.

Xanthoparmelia chlorochroa

 The devils punch bowl was our first destination. Here we saw many birds including yellow-rumped warbler, flycatchers, sandpipers and a waterthrush.

Devils Punch Bowl, Spruce Woods Provincial Park

Devils Punch Bowl, Spruce Woods Provincial Park

The seeps around the punch bowl looked very interesting for plants but there unfortunately wasn't an easy way to get across that we had time to find.

Seep near the Devils Punch Bowl, Spruce Woods Provincial Park

 The larger dunes were very barren of vegetation compared to the hills below them.They had mostly Artemisia and tall grasses that will flower later in the summer.

Contrast between large dunes and smaller hills below

  These dunes involved a lot of races up and down them. I am not surprised that this area used to be used as a military training area as all. It was quite the workout!