Snakes
 

Prompted from a post I read in the European section, and out of curiosity ~ Oh, tell a lie ~ because I'll be hiking around in your gorgeous mountains shortly, are there snakes in your Rockies?

Funny - most people are worried about the grizzly bears! While I'm no expert on the matter, I don't believe you need to worry about snakes in the mountains. There are rattle snakes in southern Alberta, around Medicine Hat but that's quite a distance from the mountains.

Yes and no. Yes, I've read there are garter snakes in wetlands around Banff, but they are rare. I've never seen one myself.

But no, there are no poisonous snakes in the Rockies.

I've heard about the rattle snakes in the prairies in the most southern part of Alberta that Cruiseryyc mentioned. But then, as Cruiseryyc said, you won't be going there.

As to Calgary, a couple of times in nearly 30 years I've seen snakes while I've been walking in a wilderness park on the outskirts of the city. The snakes in question have been about 6 inches long, and I know they couldn't have been poisonous, because we don't have poisonous snakes here either.

Excellent. And I already asked about the bears. ;) The things you think about when you have kids traveling with you.
Thank you.
(off topic)And BTW, absolutely enjoyed watching the hockey series with you all. Even if we hadn't have won. In our news, the Flames fans were viewed as really good spirted, fun, loyal, and good sports. My husband went to game 5 in Tampa when you all won. Came home deflated, but said it was a great time. The area looked wonderful on our newscasts too. Can't wait to see it in person.
Thanks for a terrific competition.

Thanks, Hibiscushouse. Congratulations to you guys. Tampa Bay did great! >:D<

I agree. Snakes in the Rockies? Hardly your primary worry! Grizzlies are not like those cuddly Great Smokies black bears that bug hikers for food.

Grizzlies are anti social to say the least; they don't even like each other very much. (Except a mother and her cubs.)And they have great big claws on their great big feet.

I always thought Atlanta made a big mistake when the Flames got away and moved to Calgary. Now Atlanta has the Thrashers, more often called the Thrashees.

My son went to a game and there was some guy there in the stands ready for action. He had on his helmet and was carrying his stick. Some of the insults that he yelled at the players were funny. One defenseman gave a handkerchief wave of a check to an on-rushing left winger who bored in on goal at top speed. The guy in the helmet yells out "Does your husband play hockey too?"

Whew!! I'm glad to hear that I'm not likely to run into snakes in the Rockies. Makes for a MUCH better trip!!

As a Canuck, I was disappointed that Calgary did not win. I'm not really much of a hockey fan, but it was a good series. Congratulations to Tampa.

Snakes were common where I grew up. My grandmother would go fishing with a couple of fishing poles, plus the necessary supporting equipment, and she took along a garden hoe. If a snake came along, she used the hoe. Otherwise she fished in peace.