Man Fined $1,000 For Killing Eastern Hognose Snakes in Canada
Press Release from Canadian Ministry of Natural Resources , November 2003
Barrie — A Wasaga Beach man who needlessly killed two harmless Eastern Hognose snakes in his
backyard has been fined $1,000. The Hognose is a species at risk, designated as threatened in
Ontario.
William Fenn, 45, has been found guilty of two charges under The Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Act for the illegal killing of a protected reptile. He was fined $500 for each charge.
Court heard that on May 23, 2002, a researcher from the Wasaga Beach Hognose Snake Research
Program tracked the snakes to Fenn’s backyard, which backs onto Wasaga Beach Provincial Park.
The two snakes had been implanted with radio transmitters and were being studied as part of a
research project. The snakes were found chopped in half. A park staff member contacted a
Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) Midhurst District Conservation Officer and an investigation
was conducted.
Judge Glen Krelove heard the case in the Ontario Court of Appeal in Barrie on November 18, 2003.
Park staff members have been carrying out a research project on these snakes for the past three
years to study their movements, population and the areas they use for feeding, mating and
hibernation. This species is completely harmless and non-venomous. The survival of the Hognose
is threatened due to a combination of habitat loss and persecution by humans. From the start of
the project, Wasaga Beach residents have been encouraged, through various forms of education,
advertising and media, to report sightings of Eastern Hognose snakes to the Wasaga Beach
Provincial Park at (705) 429-2516.
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)
"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)
