The bears below got into our campsite & would not leave so we did.
Massauaga Rattlesnake Video Ontario Canada Government
I accidentally stepped on this rattlesnake with sandals on & he did not bite me.
It was sitting on a portage trail near a carry going around what canoeist call a drop or normal people call falls.
They are very hard to spot when motionless because they blend in with the rocks.
He did not rattle until I touched him with my sandal.
I was wearing shorts & had no socks on.
Please do not kill these snakes as this is their home & we are visitors & they are important to the ecology of The Georgian Bay.
I have seen many more of them over the years including very big ones up to 4 1/2 feet long & very fat & they are not rare in this area.
If you go in the hot days of July or August you will see them lay out on the rocks near the water & wait for a frog or something else to eat.
When they are in our campsite I always catch them & move them to another area but I never harm them & I also know what I am doing.
If you don’t please do not go near them.
I take special equipment to handle them properly & have hunted poisonous snakes for years in Florida & places like that.
If you leave them alone they will simply crawl away & go back to their den.
After they feed they go back into their dens & do not feed again for awhile.
They like to come out at night when it is really warm.
So always be careful when you get out of your tent at night & always look before you step anywhere at night.
If you get bit wrap the bite area loosely with an elastic bandage & keep beelow the heart & remaim calm & go directly to the road & find out where Parry Sound Hospital is & get there asap & there is also a hospital in Sudbury.
Do not cute the bite area or apply suction devices unless you have The Sawyer Snakebite Kit Suction Device with you which has to be used immdeiately to do any good & then it will only remove about 35% of the venom at best.
It would be a good idea to call the lodge owner where you parked & ask them for advice.
It is illegal to kill these snakes even if you get bitten by one of them.
Do not handle a dead snake as they can still bite after they are supposedly dead.
If you do kill the snake after you are bitten put it in a bucket or bag with a long stick & take it with you so the doctors can see what kind & size it is to determine how much anti-venom you will need which will depend on your size & weight etc.
They probably have to do a test first to see if you are allergic to the anti-venom.
Most people that go to Georgian Bay have never seen one of these rattlesnakes so if you do it is a thrill & an experience you will never forget.
Especially if you end up in the hospital with snake bite.
One of the local lodge owners once told me these snakes were very small & if you get bit is it about like getting stung by a bee as they have a small amount of venom.
She was telling a man that knew better.
This snake has a nasty venom & anyone bitten needs to get help quick or you could lose an arm or leg.
Believe me rattlesnake bites are serious no matter what kind or how large if they inject venom with the bite.
If not consider yourself lucky as that does happen & they call them dry bites & that was probably why she thought that was true.
The Massasauga or pigmy rattler has a very potent poison that can be more powerful than the diamond back, canebreak or timber rattlesnake.
A snake expert in Florida we used to sell live snakes to told me a massasuaga rattlesnake almost killed him & it was the worst snake bite he had ever experienced & he had been bitten over seventy times & even by cobras in the past.
They tell you very few people die but they do not tell you about all the amputations they have to do because of rattlesnake bites & tissue damage & infection & how it rots your skin or turns it totally black.
All rattlesnake bites are serious & require immediate hospital attention.
One year a young boy was bitten by a rattler chasing frogs out around Dead Island when we were up there & I have personally been struck several times but usually had my rubber boots on & did not get injected with venom.
There are wolves in this area but I have only ran across them once in 35 years.
One year we noticed strange scats that looked like dog but we thought they were bear.
They were all over the area we camped & there was a kill nearby with vultures & buzzards high overhead but we did not attempt to investigate it.
The third night we were there the moon was full & all of a sudden the cry of the wolf & right in our campsite were three wolves apparently chasing an injured moose.
They keep howling & chasing & we were shocked & had no idea what to do.
We got out of the tent after they left our camp & jumped into our canoe & started paddling to my son’s campsite about a half mile away.
There were a couple of canoeist there nearby also & all of them were up & confused as no one had ever experienced wolves before.
We heard them howling all night long & then never again the remainder of our trip.
The only regret I have is that I did not have a tape recorder with me as that was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard in my life.
I will never forget it & at that time I had suspected that Fritts may have had something to do with that & was probably up there laughing like hell.
The wilderness does that to you.
We have caught a lot of moose & bears swimming across rivers over the years & sometimes you can hear moose snorting or calling in the morning or a bear turning over rocks or tearing rotten stumps at night while you are in your tent.
You will see trails that go in the water on islands where they swim across & if you camp there they will swim across there & go right by your campsite usually at night.
Ontario Black Bear Photgraphs By Ashley Hockenberry Photography
These Black Bears Are For The Birds
