Saskatchewan Pt. I: Snakes on a Plain

I spent some time in Southern Saskatchewan back in July 2010 and thought I'd share some photos from the trip.  It was the first time I'd been to the province and I loved it.  Flying into Regina, our route took us to Swift Current before getting into alot of backroads meandering throughout the far southwest corner of the province.

Alot of the rangeland in this part of the province exists as mixed grassland.  The photo below shows a 'coulee', these features tended to show very high plant and animal diversity having avoided the plough.

We saw a couple of Bullsnake (Pituophis catenifer sayi), otherwise known as Gopher Snake.  Unfortunately these guys love basking on the road.

 

At the far western boundary of Saskatchewan there is a hilly area of cypress upland which sticks out topographically (and botanically) from the surrounding landscape.  We made a day-long visit to Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park which straddles the Saskatchewan-Alberta border.

The creviced rock faces which exist throughout the park provide great snake hibernacula; I managed to get this shot of what I think is a Red-sided Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis).  Check out the range of sub-species throughout Canada.  The Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre recognizes 5 distinct species or sub-species in the province.

My target species and highlight of the trip was Prairie Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis viridis).  We had hoped to see Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) but came up empty-handed.  Prairie Rattlesnake is listed as S3 in Saskatchewan and is at the northern extent of it's range which stretches all the way to the north of Mexico.  Standing beside a stout Wolfwillow (Elaeagnus commutata) shrub in Grasslands N.P. I head a rattle moments before this individual emerged from the shadow of the shrub.

If you ever find yourself in southern Saskatchewan, a visit to Cypress Hills P.P. and Grasslands N.P. is a must!  More Saskatchewan content to come!