Interlake Snake

Crevasses and caverns filled with slithering serpents. Sinkholes swarming with wriggling, writhing snakes. Care to take a peek?

Narcisse, Manitoba, in the Interlake region between southern Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba, is the red-sided garter snake capital of the world. Every year, as many as 15,000 visitors head to the Narcisse Wildlife Management Area to watch up to 65,000 snakes gather for spring mating or winter denning. The snakes, which are non-poisonous, are attracted to fissures in the limestone bedrock of the area, where they can slip below the frost line to survive harsh Manitoba winters.

The cozy Narcisse snake dens are a network of crevasses, tunnels and caves, formed over millions of years by the seepage of acidic rainwater through cracks in the earth's surface. In some places, the surface has collapsed entirely into sinkholes. The snakes crawl down into the bottom of the sinkholes, forming large, moist balls up to 10,000 snakes thick.

Late April and early May are the best time to see the Narcisse snakes. Wrapped tightly into mating balls of one female and several males, the snakes are oblivious to observers. In September, the garter snakes return to their winter dens, and can be seen on the surface awaiting the cold, wet weather that will drive them underground.

With as many as 30,000 migrating snakes perishing on Highway 17 every year, local conservationists have installed a series of tunnels and barriers to guide the snakes safely to their dens. Even "snake condos," man-made bunkers installed below the ground, have been suggested to discourage the snakes from crossing the busy road.