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Number of calls to Lethbridge’s rattlesnake hotline rises dramatically in 2017

Nov 8, 2017 | 1:37 PM

LETHBRIDGE – The number of calls to Lethbridge’s rattlesnake hotline in 2017, is more than six times higher than 2016.
 
According to numbers from the City, which operates the rattlesnake mitigation program there were 173 calls for service this year, compared with just 29 calls in 2016, and 62 calls in 2015.
 
Jessica Deacon-Rogers, with the Helen Schuler Nature Centre says there are a number of reasons for the rise.
 
“The group that does the rattlesnake removals and relocations has used social media quite a bit more this year than they have in the past. So things like videos on YouTube and Twitter and things like that. And we think that with reaching more people, there were more phone calls because more people were aware of the hotline.”
 
Over the course of the summer, Lethbridge’s resident rattlesnake expert Ryan Heavy-Head, posted numerous YouTube videos of calls he would get from various locations. The videos have anywhere from one-thousand to one million views.
 
Another reason for the increase in the number of calls Deacon-Rogers says, is the encroachement of humans into rattlesnake feeding territory. She adds that people moving into new housing developments on the west side in particular, are seeing more snakes around their homes.
 
“With the development of roads, digging, putting in foundations for houses that are replacing their habitat, the snakes are being forced into areas where they weren’t being seen in the past in Lethbridge. As well, they’re losing some of that space where they would have been hunting, and now they’re in a backyard residential area, causing more conflict between people and the snakes themselves.”
 
The highest number of calls came from the Upper Canyons area, followed by the University of Lethbridge, where there is also a well-known den, followed by the Lower Canyons area.
 
The snakes are now hibernating in their dens in old mine shafts, holes and other areas below the frost line and the hotline has been closed until next spring.
 
Here is a list of the calls for service for the last three years, as posted by the City of Lethbridge.
 
2017

Hardieville 2
Sandstone Ridge 2
Indian Battle Park 3
Legacy Ridge 4
Ridgewood/ Heritage Heights 5
SunRidge 5
Varsity Village 6
Popson Park 6
Scenic Drive 7
RiverStone 8
Bridge Drive 11
Lower Canyons 19
Upper Canyons 68
University of Lethbridge 27
Total: 173

2016

University of Lethbridge – 14
Paradise Canyon/ Canyons – 7
SunRidge – 1
Bridge Drive – 1
Far west acreages/ Sunset Acres – 1
Copperwood – 1
RiverStone – 2
Bridgeview RV Resort 2
Total: 29

2015

University of Lethbridge – 16
Paradise Canyon/ Canyons – 26
SunRidge – 9
Bridge Drive – 4
Far west acreages/ Sunset Acres –  3
RiverStone – 2
Scenic Heights – 1
Heritage Heights/ Ridgewood – 1
Total: 62
 
 For more information on the rattlesnake mitigation program, go to http://www.lethbridge.ca/living-here/Animals-Wildlife/Pages/Rattlesnakes.aspx