250 snakes slither away from Regina

About 250 snakes slithered their way to freedom northwest of Regina on Saturday afternoon.

They now call Condie Nature Refuge home, but they were originally rescued from a house in Regina last November. Most of the snakes were kept awake and cared for by Salthaven West, an animal rehabilitation facility in Regina.
 
But 99 spent the winter in Prince Albert, under the care of three Saskatchewan Polytechnic students in the School of Natural Resources and Built Environment.
 
One of those students was Amanda Horvath, who checked on the snakes every day.
 
“We kept them in six different containers in a fridge,” she explained. “And we monitored their moisture content and temperature, and pretty much just kept them safe over the winter.”
 
The cool temperatures put the snakes into artificial hibernation.
 
“All 99 that we cared for – hibernated – 99 came out, with no weight loss,” said Joanne Marchand, the faculty supervisor for the project.
 
The students also collected data throughout the winter months. It will be complied into a report that will be released to Salthaven as well as the Ministry of Environment.
 
“Hopefully it will add to the knowledge base that we have now for artificial hibernation projects,” added Marchand. “Because there’s not a lot of that.”

panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow