Ontario Nature Blog

Most people try to avoid encounters with venomous reptiles, but that wasn’t the case for the team of Ontario Nature staff that I accompanied to the Saugeen-Bruce Peninsula last week. These herpetologists and avid naturalists ventured fearlessly across tall-grass meadows, forest clearings and rocky beaches in search of Sistrurus catenatus, commonly known as the Massasauga ...

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When Ontario Nature’s conservation staff drive around the province for field work it’s never relaxing. Instead of sitting back and watching the scenery, we keep our eyes pinned to the road in search of reptiles or amphibians, dead or alive.

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Having grown up in the Middle East, in the midst of either a bustling city or an open desert, going to the Bruce Peninsula for the Remarkable Reptiles Weekend and a Massasauga snake survey was like going to Disneyland for me. I spent the summer with Ontario Nature as an intern with the Reptile and ...

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As an enthusiastic field biologist, I seldom pass up a chance to go exploring for unusual wildlife. So I was more than happy to assist the Nature Conservancy of Canada conduct surveys this summer for one of Ontario’s most rare, and most unique, snakes: the queen snake. These small, harmless snakes live in rivers, streams, ...

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Ontario’s reptiles and amphibians are protected under the federal Species at Risk Act and these provincial acts: Endangered Species Act, 2007, Planning Act, under which the Provincial Policy Statement is issued Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act. These laws, as well as how they protect species and their habitats, are described below.

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