(July 2025) A study by the Long Point Biosphere Region in collaboration with faculty and students at the University of Waterloo has identified opportunities to protect the Eastern Foxsnake, a rare animal with a unique association to the region. Over 70 percent of the snake’s remaining global population survives in just a few pockets along the Great Lakes in Ontario. One of these is the southern part of Norfolk County.
The research team collected information and reviewed data over a 50-year period to protect the snake and conserve the species. The results of this study, published recently in The Canadian Herpetologist, show that the snake sightings cluster around points where wildlife corridors and streams intersect with specific roadways. This information will assist planners and engineers as they consider options for roadkill mitigation measures such as specially designed fencing.
“The Eastern Foxsnake faces many challenges, not only loss of habitat and risk of mortality from boat traffic,” says team lead Kari Gunson of Eco-Kare International. “It often crosses or basks on roads and is prone to road mortality due to its expansive length and some motorists even intentionally run them over”
Gunson says that engineering solutions such as riparian bridge crossings with funneling wing-walls are critcally important in Eastern Foxsnake hotspots. One such location in Norfolk County is on County Road 60 at Big Creek.
The Foxsnake, which can grow to 1.75 metres (over five feet) in length, can be intimidating because its bright colouring and ability to mimic the sound of a rattlesnake, but it is non-venomous and essentially harmless to humans. The snake also helps maintain a balanced ecosystem, keeps rodent populations in check, reduces the spread of disease, and supports sustainable agriculture through its use of farmland habitats.
Gunson notes that everyone can play a part in protecting the species by learning how to identify the snake and reporting sightings of it, alive or dead, to resources such as iNaturalist so the information can help future research and planning.
The study was undertaken within the framework of a collaboration agreement between Long Point Biosphere Region and the University of Waterloo signed in December 2023.
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