IndIana Jones ’ worst nIghtmare is a boon for nature lovers . September sees tens of thousands of harmless red-sided garter snakes return to their nesting grounds just outside the rural community of Narcisse , about 100 kilometres north of Winnipeg . The distinctively striped slitherers spend their summers snatching frogs in nearby marshes , but the change in seasons prompts them to move back to the network of limestone crevasses that has become their winter
by the way Slithering Season
home . As temperatures cool , the snakes take shelter underground : Narcisse ’ s caves descend below the frostline , ensuring the snakes are protected from freezing . But until then you ’ re likely to find a great number of serpents — the largest group of red-sided garters in the world — amiably sunning themselves on the rocks . All the action is viewable from observation platforms built next to the dens , which are easily accessed from Highway 17 . — Craig Moy sNakes : MaTThew wOOdBrIdge ; INseT : POTsTOM / IsTOck
62 fall 2016 cAA MaNITOBa