Narcisse Snake Dens

Manitoba Wildlife Management Area Holding The Largest Known Concentration Of Snakes In The World Tens Of Thousands Of Red Sided Garter Snakes In Limestone Sinkhole Dens · Narcisse, Manitoba

For a couple of weeks each spring, a patch of limestone country two hours north of Winnipeg holds the largest concentration of snakes anywhere on earth. Tens of thousands of red-sided garter snakes spend the Manitoba winter below the frost line in sinkholes in the karst, and when the ground warms they come up all at once - males first, in such numbers that the pits appear to be moving, and then females, each of whom is immediately wrapped by dozens of males into a writhing ball the size of a football. It is one of the great wildlife spectacles of North America and almost nobody outside the province has heard of it. The snakes are entirely harmless, the site is free, and a three-kilometre trail links four dens with viewing platforms built over them. Get the timing wrong by a fortnight and you will be looking at an empty field.

Narcisse Wildlife Management Area, Highway 17 north of Narcisse, Narcisse, Manitoba, Canada

FREE AND UNGATED - no admission, no ticket, no booking - with a trailhead car park off Highway 17 and basic restrooms, open through daylight hours. STRICTLY SEASONAL: the spring emergence runs roughly LATE APRIL TO MID MAY, peaking around the first week of May, and a smaller return happens in SEPTEMBER. Outside those windows there is nothing to see. THE PEAK IS SET BY GROUND TEMPERATURE AND MOVES BY UP TO A FORTNIGHT YEAR TO YEAR - check the current emergence update before driving out, and go on a warm sunny day, because cold or rain keeps the snakes underground.

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