Rattlesnakes in the Great White North: An overview of research on the Western Rattlesnake in British Columbia, Canada

Karl Larsen, Marcus Atkins, Dana Eye, Stephanie Winton

The Western Rattlesnake reaches its northern limits in south-central British Columbia, Canada. This also represents the most northern limits for the entire assemblage of rattlesnake species. Winters here are long and cold, summers are short and relatively cool, and prey appears much more limited. This puts an enormous amount of natural ‘pressures’ on the rattlesnake, giving them relatively little time to complete their basic life history functions, such as feeding and reproduction. When human-caused impacts are added to this, the situation quickly can become grim for populations of the snake.

In this presentation, Dr. Larsen and graduate students Marcus Atkins, Dana Eye, and Stephanie Winton will give a bit of a tour through their various projects. The tour starts with an overview of the basic ecology of this snake in our region, then highlights work on different aspects of Western Rattlesnake conservation. This will include:

1. A study to look at how land-management practices have altered (or not altered) snake populations over 30+ years
2. An investigation into the use of traditional ‘rookeries’ by gravid females
3. The impact of even low-traffic roads on the ability of the snake to persist in otherwise pristine habitat

About Dr. Larsen:

Karl Larsen is a professor in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences at Thompson Rivers University (TRU), in Kamloops, BC, Canada. His lifelong fascination and passion of snakes lead him to conduct his MSc studies on the most northernmost reptiles in the Western Hemisphere, namely the red-sided garter snakes that occur at 60ON latitude (in Canada’s Northwest Territories). Following that, he conducted his PhD research on the North American red squirrel, and then spent several years working with a forestry company as a wildlife-fire ecologist. He then took up a faculty position at TRU where he has ran a program focusing on the conservation biology of a wide range of species, ranging from pillbugs to elephants. However, snakes have remained a central focus throughout his career, and today he works with his student to investigate various aspects of the ecology and management issues facing snakes.

Meeting Time:
7:15pm

Meeting Place:
City Ward 3 Meeting Room – 1510 E Grant Rd – Tucson AZ 85719

Southeast corner of Grant and Vine between Campbell and Mountain Avenues

Pre-meeting Eats:
Karuna’s Thai Plate – 1917 E Grant Rd – Tucson AZ 85719

Northeast block of Grant and Campbell