WINTER HOMES For evicted reptiles

Housing and industrial developments are slowly forcing snakes out of their natural
habitats and these are consequently in search of new homes.

Artificial hibernation structures called hibernacula, have been built by volunteers for
these evicted reptiles. These structures will serve as winter homes for snakes in
south east Washington County as part of a bigger project to convert 80 acres into
grassland prairie.
Snakes help to provide balance to the ecosystem, keeping small animals such as
mice and other rodents in check. Conversely, they serve as food for other species.
Recently, 175 volunteers pitched in to help to make this project a reality. Several
species of snakes are expected to use the hibernacula, including garter snakes,
Eastern fox snakes and gopher snakes.
In Western Australia, herpetologist Brian Bush said snakes can literally save farmers
hundreds of thousands of dollars by eating crop-destroying rodents. There are of
course many venomous snakes in Australia, but to those in the know, they are rarely
problematic. Left alone they just go about their business.

EXERCISE

 Read the first three paragraphs at this address:
'respectthesnake.com/hibernacula.html'.

Watch Steve Irwin from Australia handling snakes from a safe distance!!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZT2YvdwVzA
Share your impressions of this clip and whether or not you think Steve Irwin is a
good embassador for wildlife.