01-05-2025
Alberta Parks issues warning about garter snakes on roads east of Edmonton
Alberta motorists are being warned to watch for snakes on the road when heading towards two areas east of Edmonton.
Alberta Parks issued an advisory to motorists on Wednesday to watch for garter snakes on the road when heading towards Cooking Lake-Blackfoot Provincial Recreation Area and Miquelon Lake Provincial Park.
The advisory states that 'snakes will be crossing and stopping on roads more often during the spring season' because they are migrating from 'their local hibernacula.'
'Please watch for and avoid the garter snakes on our roadways due to migrating from their local hibernacula,' Alberta Parks stated in the advisory.
The Royal Alberta Museum says the migration is part of the snakes' spring mating season. Garter snakes are the most common snake in Alberta and are not poisonous.
A single hibernaculum can house hundreds of the same species of snakes, and 'the scarcity of suitable sites means that several species will all hibernate together.' Spring is the primary mating season for garter snakes,
Snake hibernacula are protected under the Alberta Wildlife Act.
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