If it slithers or crawls, most of us have only two one of two reactions. You both shudder and exclaim your disgust, or cool is whispered in an awed voice. I fall firmly into the second category. I love all reptiles. They amaze me; prehistoric ageless eyes and the seemingly ability to take everything the modern world throws at them. Snakes, Turtle, and

Lizards oh my! This month's Goose Gossip is dedicated to the reptiles of Whiteshell Provincial Park.

Reptiles are vertebrates or have a backbone. Unlike other vertebrates, they have scaly skin and claws (except for snakes which don't have legs). They are ectoderms or cold-blooded; this means that there internal temperature depends on their environment. They have complex shelled eggs, which are laid, on land (once again there is an exception since some snakes bear live young). The shells of reptile eggs are soft and leathery and are often laid in moist soil. The eggs absorb some water from the ground and may even grow larger after being placed in the nest.

There are three kinds of reptiles in Canada. Turtles, which we all know have shells. The top of the shell is called a carapace and the bottom is a plastron. Lizards, which resemble salamanders, have scales, claws, and external ears openings. We have no lizards in Whiteshell Provincial Park. The third kind are snakes, which are the only group of vertebrates in Canada that have no legs. There are two more types of reptiles in the world; Crocodiles (which include alligators) are confined to tropical areas, and Tuataras, a lizard like creature that lives on islands off the coast of New Zealand.

Manitoba has only 8 species of reptiles. Most reptiles in the world favour warm climates because they are cold-blooded. There are only three species that you are likely to encounter on a regular basis in Whiteshell Provincial Park.

Western Painted Turtles

The Western Painted Turtle is a common site basking in ditches and along roadsides. They grow up to 25 cm in length and have a black carapace (top of shell) and a beautifully coloured red, orange, and yellow plastron (bottom of shell). The vibrant colours of the plastron give this turtle its name. Western Painted Turtles are unique from other turtles in that they may mate spring through fall (although most commonly in June through July in Manitoba). Males are mature at 3 to 5 years, but females take 6 to 10 years to reach breeding maturity. Females lay their eggs in soft sandy soil with good exposure to the sun (which is why roadsides are a favourite spot). Nests are dug with the hind feet and are located close to water (200 metres). The female will lay between 4 to 15 eggs in one nest and may lay up to five clutches (nests of eggs) in one season, but usually will only lay one to two clutches. Eggs hatch 72 to 80 days after being laid and late laid eggs may wait until the following spring to hatch.

Eggs that over winter can survive intensely cold temperatures without being harmed, although temperature does play an important role in the maturing young. A nest exposed to warm temperatures produces female hatchlings, and cooler temperature produces male young. The young turtles are ready to go as soon as they hatch and eat insect larvae and plants. Many

predators eat hatchlings until they grow older including raccoons, skunks, foxes, birds, garter snakes, snapping turtles, fish, and herons. Once they have survived to become adults, their predators become fewer and they have been known to live longer than 30 years in the wild.

Painted Turtles are active from March to October. They hibernate in winter by burying themselves in mud and can survive without oxygen at 3 degrees Celsius for up to 5 months; this is longer than any other air-breathing vertebrate. When they emerge in the spring, they do not begin to eat until water temperature reaches 15.5 degrees Celsius and they can digest food.

Look for Painted Turtles basking on logs and rocks or floating on the surface of the water. They usually bask for up to 2 hours at a time but have to be careful not to overheat as overheating can kill a turtle.

Snapping Turtle

The snapping turtle is the largest freshwater turtle in Canada with the carapace reaching up to 50 cm in length (and the head and neck being about half the length of the shell and the tail usually equalling the length of the shell). The carapace is tan or black in colour, and the snapping turtle has a very small plastron. The head, jaws, legs, and tails are thick and powerful and the tail has a series of spikes along its length. These turtles prefer slow-moving water and are highly aquatic preferring to leave the water only to breed. Females breed when they are 17 to 19 years old and nest in May or June. They pick an open area with loose, sandy soil and lay a single clutch of up to 104 eggs (although about 50 is common). The eggs hatch in the late summer to early fall in warm years and may not hatch until spring in cool years. The temperature dictates the sex off the hatchlings, with some very specific results. At 20 degrees and between 29 and 31 degrees Celsius only females are produced. Males are produced when the nest is between 23 and 24 degrees. At all other temperatures the hatchlings are a mix of both males and females. Crows, hawks, herons, frogs, and fish eat hatchlings.

As an adult, this is one turtle that requires respect, when it is disturbed on land it does not hesitate to defend itself. It has powerful jaws and can strike with force. Where other turtles hide when threatened, snapper turtles cannot, as their immense head, legs, and tail do not fit inside their shell. They are hardly ever a threat in the water though, as they are amazingly agile and choose to elegantly retreat rather than attack. Snapping turtles are omnivorous and eat plants, fish, frogs, snakes, small turtles, aquatic birds, and carrion.

Red-sided Garter Snake

A common site in many areas, this snake is black with three bright stripes on its sides. Although these snakes are considered harmless (they do not produce venom) they do get large up to over a metre in length for females. Garter snakes spend the winter in large groups below the frost line. In spring, the snakes emerge from the dens and breed in the area. Females are larger in length and thickness than males and give birth to as many as 40 to 50 live young, 20 young are common. These snakes live near ponds due to food sources like frogs, leeches, tadpoles, earthworms, and rodents. This means they are also common prey for Wetland creatures including bears, skunks, and raccoons. Birds are the most common predators of garter snakes including crows, magpies, owls, and hawks. These snakes are active during the day and may travel a large distance from their wintering home in caves to their summer spots near water. They find their way back to their den by scent trails. Road mortality is a problem as snakes may cross busy highways to get to their destination.

Want to learn more about reptiles? Then check out our July Events below

July Events To Look Forward To:

• Sciensational Snakes is coming to Alfred Hole on Sunday, July 13 at 2:00 p.m. See, touch, and hold live reptiles from across Canada. Call the centre for more information.
• Parks' Day Weekend is July 18 through 20. Park entrance is free and lots of special events are planned to celebrate our parks. Join us for a chance to be a Natural Resource Officer for a day or to win cool park prizes.

• Lastly, August 4 we are going to release Ted our Snapping Turtle who has lived at Alfred Hole for the past two summers. As many of you know, Ted was hatched at the Whiteshell Natural History Museum along with about 40 of his other nest mates. Their original nest was laid on a driveway and was gently transferred to the museum in the summer of 2006. Well, Ted is now growing in leaps and bounds (at least for a turtle) and the time has come to give him a big send-off! Join us for good-bye cake, scavenger hunts, turtle shakers, face painting (turtle style), and other fun reptile events.
• Sneak preview: look in next month's article for how you see live flying squirrels at Big Whiteshell Amphitheatre in August.

Alfred Hole Summer Hours and Daily

Open from 10:30 a.m. 6:00 p.m. daily from May 31 to September 1. (We will also be open for fall migration from September 5 to October 13, Friday through Sunday).

The centre is located on PTH 44, ½ km east of Rennie, just outside the central park entrance. Join us for our daily craft time – we have a new one each week. Or take a stroll with an interpreter for a Thursday night hike around the pond in July and August.

Want more details on our programs? See our events posters, call Alfred Hole (369-5470), email me, or go online to manitobaparks.com . I would also love to hear any suggestions you may have for our programming (or an upcoming article), and any nature questions that you may have.

If you have no use for any of the following items, please consider donating it to the interpretive program. We can always use items like old Halloween costumes (wings, jackets, wigs, animal bodies, magical creatures, pirates, cowboys, witches and anything else you may have), old plastic Christmas trees, carpet squares, old mounts, nature based books or nature based puzzles.

We are also taking school and group tours bookings for the fall session (September and October) by contacting me at 369-3157 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Until next month!

Morgan