TORONTO STAR (Ontario) 12 July 11 Fear of snakes no reason to cut tall grass (Jack Lakey)
Beware of snakes that ssslither out of tall grass and lurk on the sidewalks of Prudential Dr., waiting to scare people.
Stumbling upon a snake can be a frightening prospect, especially for city slickers who seldom see them and are creeped out by long, scaly reptiles with flickering, forked tongues.
When people with a strong aversion see not one but two terrible snakes in their neighbourhood, it's time to push the panic button, or at least demand something be done about it.
Joyce Ramsubick emailed to say the grass next to the hydro corridor near Midland and Lawrence Aves. "is so tall that I'm very scared walking there after dark."
"Recently I saw a snake on the sidewalk along (Prudential), and another one in the grass on Midland. I'm terribly scared of stepping on one of these snakes, regardless of how harmless they are."
We went snake hunting in a partially fenced area running along one side of the hydro corridor, west of Prudential, where grass and weeds are upwards of two metres high.
A tall chain-link fence that runs along the sidewalk would prevent bad guys from jumping out from the undergrowth to accost people, but it is no barrier to serpents that are up to no good.
We searched but could not find any snakes. Nor could we tell if the weedy property belongs to the city (and has been allowed to grow fallow) or is part of the hydro corridor.
It looked to us like a gloriously unkempt bit of natural habitat in the middle of the city, where creatures that don't drive or carry cellphones could thrive, even the ssslithery variety.
Status: Bill Harding, a Scarborough parks manager, said unused areas around the fringes of parkland are often allowed to grow wild, but he didn't think the land belongs to the city. The hydro corridor is used as parkland, but Harding said it is owned by Hydro One, which may also own the adjacent land and allow it to grow long, which is fine with him.
Daniele Gauvin, who deals with media for Hydro One, said it allows foliage to grow wild on the fringes of the corridor. "Our policy is to intentionally provide transition zones of higher grasses in support of local wildlife," said Gauvin.
Fear of snakes no reason to cut tall grass