by Connie Tabbert
Editor
WESTMEATH – Family traditions at Thanksgiving can be traditional, such as having a big family dinner. And then there are unique ones, such as going to look for snakes.
That’s what Lee Torvi and her family and guests do when they gather for Thanksgiving. But, it’s not just any snake, it’s the ones that are in the trees.
Ms. Torvi, who lives on Indian Road, said about 15 years ago she noticed snakes in the trees on a path she walks on her property.
“The first time we saw them, we were walking along a trail, a path that’s parallel to the road, but it’s in our bush, and we found ourselves eye to eye with a few snakes,” she said with a laugh.
The sightings occur near the end of September, start of October, she said. And because it happens near Thanksgiving, friends and family who are at the Torvi home at Thanksgiving always ask, “So, are the snakes out yet?”
Ms. Torvi said she contacted the Ministry of Natural Resources to find out why snakes were in the trees. She said the northern watersnakes, which is what these snakes are, hibernate within the rocky caverns during the winter months. Where they hibernate is called a hibernaculum. Prior to this occurring they must get rid of the food within their stomachs, so they climb up to raise their metabolisms, which digests the food.
“If they were to hibernate with a full stomach, the food would probably rot and then they would rot,” she said. “You wouldn’t want that to happen if you were a snake.”
Ms. Torvi said the numbers vary, but in past years she has seen as many as 15, while this year the count was at eight. She did note it’s only in one area the snakes have been seen in the trees. She has been checking the last couple of weeks and there have been a couple on the ground, a few at eye level and most are higher up. Sometimes two or three intermingle with each other while in the trees, she added.
The snakes have never fallen on them while walking and they’re not fearful of the snakes because they are sort of dozy, she said. They just lie on the branches.
“When you look at the snakes, it looks like the eyes have a film over them,” she said. “They do look pretty dozy. You know how you feel after your thanksgiving dinner? That looks exactly like how they feel.”
But northern watersnakes aren’t the only snakes to be found at the Torvi household. Throughout the summer months, her compost bin is home to many garter snakes.
“We have loads of garter snakes,” she said. “I like snakes. They’re interesting.”
What saddens, and angers her at the same time, is when people see a snake on the road, they feel they have to run over it and kill it.
“Many people aim to kill a snake when they see it on the road,” she said. “There’s no reason for that.”
