Rattlesnake bites prompt warning:[Final Edition]
Times - Colonist Victoria, B.C.:Aug 12, 2002.  p. A6 

People:	Prior, Kent
Article types:	News
Dateline:	TORONTO
Section:	Canada
Publication title:	Times - Colonist. Victoria, B.C.: Aug 12, 2002.  pg. A.6
Source Type:	Newspaper
ProQuest document ID:	241549251
Text Word Count	287
Article URL:	http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?RQT=309&VInst=PROD&VName=PQD&VType=PQD&Fmt=3&did=000000241549251&clientId=17280

Abstract (Article Summary)

"We are tracking six reported bites in the area this year. As bites are up, obviously people should take care," [John Birnbaum] said, noting that normally only one or two people are bitten each summer by the brown-and-grey rattlesnake that grows up to a metre long.

Currently, there are only four areas of habitat for the Massasauga, considered a threatened species in Ontario. The small and slow-moving snake known to spend most of its life alone and in hiding can be found in two large areas around Georgian Bay, as well as in Windsor and Port Colborne.

Full Text (287   words)

(Copyright Times Colonist (Victoria) 2002)

TORONTO (CP) -- Cottagers and residents of the Georgian Bay area are being urged to take extra care when outdoors this summer after six people were bitten by potentially deadly rattlesnakes.

John Birnbaum, executive director of the Georgian Bay Association, an umbrella organization that represents 4,500 families, said that six people in and around the area have been bitten this summer by the Massasauga rattlesnake, the only poisonous snake in Ontario.

"We are tracking six reported bites in the area this year. As bites are up, obviously people should take care," Birnbaum said, noting that normally only one or two people are bitten each summer by the brown-and-grey rattlesnake that grows up to a metre long.

Kent Prior, a species-at-risk adviser at Environment Canada, said the increase in bites could be attributed to two possible reasons: either the snakes are more active this summer, given the hot and dry weather, or there's been a jump in the reptile's population.

"My sense is that it's probably a combination of (those reasons)," Prior said.

Currently, there are only four areas of habitat for the Massasauga, considered a threatened species in Ontario. The small and slow-moving snake known to spend most of its life alone and in hiding can be found in two large areas around Georgian Bay, as well as in Windsor and Port Colborne.

The population of the snake, estimated to be somewhere in the thousands, has suffered a steady decline and is believed to have decreased by about 60 per cent within the last decade.

The main contributor to this drop, Prior says, is increased development and a depletion of the type of rocky, open areas and wetlands the snake likes to live in during the summer.