SUNDAY HERALD (Halifax, Nova Scotia) 15 July 07 Snakes harmless, even in a (gasp!) crib; N.S. expert has heard horror stories, but insists there's nothing to fear (Kelly Shiers)
In what might sound like something out of a horror film, Nova Scotians have reported seeing thick, two-metre-long snakes slithering in their basements and yards, and in fields and woods across the province.
And if just reading about it is enough to make you shudder and squirm, stop here.
Otherwise, you're going to find out about a Pictou County woman's home that was invaded by so many snakes - peeking from the rain gutter on the roof, slipping down the staircase and, worst of all, slithering in the baby's crib - that she moved out.
About a Dartmouth man who found a snake mating ball - four of the cold-blooded creatures wound tightly together - on a rhododendron bush.
And about John Gilhen of Halifax, who has spent most of the past 50 years as Nova Scotia's snake expert, trying to convince people there's nothing to fear from the reptiles.
Mr. Gilhen has had a soft spot for the creatures that so many people revile for almost as long as he can remember, going back to Saturday morning snake hunts in north-end Halifax, where he competed with friends to see how quickly they could fill their boxes, only to release all of the snakes at the end of the game.
And he's known for just about as long that not everyone shares his passion. That's how he knew to sneak the occasional snake he wanted as a pet past his parents and into a hiding place in the basement of their row house in the Hydrostone area.
He was reminded of it in his younger years when, early one morning, he was rousted from bed by an elderly neighbour who was banging on the door after finding one of young Mr. Gilhen's secret pets - a basement escapee - coiled inside his teapot.
"He was not pleased," Mr. Gilhen recalled with a grin. "And neither were my parents."
In time, Mr. Gilhen's interest became his life's work - expanded to include all things reptilian and amphibian - at the Museum of Natural History in Halifax. Now retired, he's still often found there, as curator emeritus, advising on snakes, stressing the importance of education about Nova Scotia's five snake species, and occasionally still investigating sightings reported to the museum.
As much as he understands the nature of the creatures he works with, his job also requires some understanding of human nature.
After all, the fear of snakes has strained the relationship between man and reptile so much that there are those who get the willies just looking at a picture of a snake.
"I run into this quite frequently," Mr. Gilhen said. "People will call and say, 'There's a snake on my lawn. … It's four or five or six feet long.' And most of the time, for some reason, it's (usually) black."
Although unusual, some garter snakes are black, including a colony of them on Georges Island in Halifax Harbour. But it would be rare for any snake in this province to grow anywhere near six feet (almost two metres). One pregnant garter snake on display at the museum stretches to 31 centimetres, long enough to have earned it the nickname Colossus.
So what accounts for the descriptions Mr. Gilhen gets?
"People don't lie. They try to tell you exactly what they see," he said, explaining that moving snakes always look bigger than they are.
"Of course, if you're afraid of a snake, and there's a snake moving through the grass and you step back, it's only natural you're going to think of it as being much larger than it really is."
Mr. Gilhen said he's amazed that people so afraid of snakes unwittingly create habitats for them.
Woodpiles, for example, are ideal environments, he said. Careless stove stokers might carry snakes wedged between the wood and bark, right into their homes. Patio doors left open to a lawn provide an ideal route to the warmth inside - while less than half a metre of gravel between the door and the lawn makes it less inviting. Paved driveways are ideal places to bask and gardens provide ideal spots to forage and curl up.
A few years ago, snake sightings were on the rise in homes at the Shearwater air base, he said, but the reason was no surprise.
"Each of the houses had a basement window and there was like a (window) well in front. . . . The wells served as a pitfall trap (where) frogs and earthworms would fall down and this would attract the snakes. People were complaining about snakes in the houses over there (but the snakes) were just following the food."
Fear, combined with a lack of education, can be a fatal combination - for snakes.
"It's really pathetic, you know, there'll be this harmless ringneck snake, maybe 20 centimetres long, and the head will be just crushed," Mr. Gilhen said of some of the specimens people have brought to the museum. "The snake will be as dead as dead can be and I'll say, 'Why did you kill it?'
"The answer is always the same: 'I didn't know what it was. It might have been poisonous.' "
Mr. Gilhen said he's spent much time trying to teach people how harmless Nova Scotia's snakes are. He said he's come to the conclusion that educating children is the key to changing people's perceptions.
"I'd like to see people understand they're not poisonous. They don't grow to six feet . . . and they're beneficial. They're like any other animal, part of the ecosystem, part of the food chain."
Snakes harmless, even in a (gasp!) crib