Snakes got you rattled?

Slithering in the grass, hiding beneath your feet, snakes are emerging from their dens with the springtime heat.

Runners and hikers in Kelowna are being met on trails by these sneaky serpents.

Several Castanet viewers sent in photos and video of what they believed to be rattlesnakes, warning others to be wary when out in areas such as Dilworth Mountain, Mount Boucherie or Knox Mountain.

However, after speaking with conservation and a former-local reptile enthusiast, the snakes people have been seeing are probably not rattlesnakes and most likely great gopher basin snakes.  

David Cooper says the great gopher basin snake is the largest in B.C. and can grow to six feet in length.

“They have a round pupil, compared with an elliptical pupil in a rattlesnake (the Northern Pacific rattlesnake), but they are not venomous,” he said. “They hiss and shake their tail around like a rattlesnake, so a lot of people will confuse them.”

Rattlesnakes are found in the Thompson-Okanagan and are most common in Kamloops and Oliver. The survival of rattlesnakes depends on the preservation of their habitat.  Entire populations can be destroyed with the loss of a single hibernacula; however, the species is not in danger of extinction.

The great basin gopher snake is on the B.C. provincial blue list, meaning the species is considered vulnerable to habitat loss and populations may be in decline.

Cooper says, all snakes including rattlesnakes are protected under B.C.’s Wildlife Act and it is illegal to kill or harm snakes, or to remove them from the wild.

“In the spring, the warm temperatures have brought them out earlier, but they will move around. The females will soon move from the hibernaculum, which is where they spend their winter in a communal den, to the rookery which is where they give live births at the end of summer.”

The big difference between the rattlesnake and the gopher snake, is the rattler has a heavy body, with a triangle head, and a rattle on its tail.

The rattlesnake is venomous. If you are bitten by a rattlesnake clean the area and seek medical help immediately. There is an anti-venom available, and while Cooper says there is really no-risk to life there could be local tissue damage to the infected area.

“I don’t think anyone has died from a rattlesnake bite in Canada in 50 years. Your pets are more in danger, because dogs will go right up to them.”

Cooper says he typically hears of encounters with the gopher snake over a rattlesnake.

“They share hibernation dens so there is a chance if you see one species, you might see the other,” he explained.

While living in the Okanagan, Cooper once encountered 45 rattlesnakes in the Oliver area in one-day.

He recommends wearing boots if hiking in tall grasses this spring.

Photo: Contributed