Reptile Monitoring
Reptile Monitoring has been the core of Shawanaga’s Species-at-Risk project since its inception in 2019, cataloguing a number of different vulnerable species.
Mshiikenh (Turtle) Surveys
Much of our fieldwork in the spring consists of surveying local wetlands to locate and collect data on the turtles that call Shawanaga home. We capture and collect data on all turtle species, but place a special focus on the Blanding’s Mshiikenmon: the threatened Blanding’s turtle.
During these wetland surveys we can capture turtles to collect data such as morphometrics (body measurements), location, habitat type, sex, behaviour, and mark individual turtles with a unique identifier. All of this data contributes to our long-term reptile monitoring project, helping protect at-risk turtles and their homes and informing important land management decisions.
Ginebig (Snake) Surveys
There are three main snake species in Shawanaga which we target for data collection: the eastern foxsnake, massasauga rattlesnake, and eastern hognose Snake. We conduct targeted habitat surveys for all three species, however our most intensive survey efforts have historically focused on massasaugas.
We survey for Zhiishiigweg (massasauga) during their spring emergence, fall retreat to hibernation sites, and also during the reproductive season when females are gestating their young. Both gestation and hibernation are critical periods in the life-cycle of a massasauga, and hence it is important to identify the locations of these seasonal habitats.
Community observations and traditional ecological knowledge have been important pieces in understanding the distribution of snakes in the community, especially more cryptic species like the Eastern hognose.
