Elusive reptile's ecosystem in grave danger
Sandra McCulloch, Times Colonist
Published: Friday, March 31, 2006
There's nowhere quite as nice a place to live as a south-facing piece of waterfront land on the Gulf Islands.

Sharp-tailed snakes really love it there. So do some people.

The trouble is, the elusive sharp-tailed snake is endangered in Canada.

A sharp-tailed snake, albeit dead, was discovered recently on South Pender Island, making this the ninth B.C. site identified as the rare snake's habitat. The other sites are on privately owned land on North Pender, Gabriola and Saltspring islands, Metchosin and Highlands municipalities. Private land is not subject to any habitat-protection requirements.

The snake's habitat ranges as far south as the central coast of California.

"The snakes are simply an indicator species for a much larger ecosystem that's at risk and that's the Garry oak ecosystem," said Todd Carnahan of the Habitat Acquisition Trust in an interview Thursday.

"So if we can protect habitat for the snakes, we're also protecting habitat for over 100 species at risk."

The Habitat Acquisition Trust is a regional land trust that aims to enhance the protection and stewardship of significant land. Since 2002, it has helped hundreds of property owners to protect and enhance wildlife habitat on their land.

Despite the fearsome name, sharp-tailed snakes are smaller than garter snakes and are harmless. They are chestnut brown, as thick as a pencil and about 30 centimetres long.

The snake got its name from the sharply pointed tip of its tail. Each snake has a unique chin marking and researchers use these marks to identify individuals. While garter snakes slither away from humans, sharp-tailed snakes freeze and then burrow into the ground.

They're rarely seen, and therefore are tough to count.

Gardeners warm up to the sharp-tailed snake when they learn the snake's favorite food is the ordinary slug.

The pressure for development is "extreme" in sharp-tailed snake habitat, said Carnahan.

"We have approximately five per cent of the original ecosystem left and it was already quite a small area on the southeast side of Vancouver Island," he said.

"People like to have a south-facing slope open to the sun and that's exactly what the snakes need."

The snakes don't seem to mind having people living nearby as long as there's enough undisturbed land for them, Carnahan said.

The federal government set up a recovery team dedicated to protecting the sharp-tailed snake.

For more information, go to the federal government website at www.speciesatrisk.gc.ca and follow the links to the sharp-tailed snake. Or go to the Habitat Acquisition Trust website at www.hat.bc.ca