The St. Clair Region Conservation Authority has provided habitat enhancements for the eastern foxsnake, a species that is endangered on the province. In southwestern Ontario the Eastern Foxsnake has seen drastic declines in population due to a number of factors including habitat loss, road mortality, predation, and collection for the pet trade.

To help provide critical habitat for the foxsnake, Authority staff created three artificial nesting boxes for female eastern foxsnakes to lay and incubate her eggs in a suitable location that would also be protected from predators like skunk, raccoons and foxes.  Foxsnakes breed in spring and lay their eggs in early summer. Females will lay between 15 and 29 eggs in a clutch. In some cases more than one female may use the same nesting site.

Brandon Jordan a local Wallaceburg District Secondary School student, volunteered his time this summer to be a nesting box steward and monitor the artificial nesting boxes for activity. This involved observing adult snakes hunting, looking for food around the site in early to mid-summer, finding snake skin sheds in the nesting box material, and observing young snakes around the nesting site in early to mid-fall. At the end of the season, staff and our nesting box steward carefully checked the nesting boxes for eggs that had been successfully incubated. “We were excited to find that in one of the boxes there were approximately 40 egg shells showing us that artificial nesting boxes can be successful,” Kelli Smith, Biological Technician with the Authority said. “In this case, 40 young foxsnakes are on the move to start the long and difficult journey into adulthood.

The nesting boxes are part of the Conservation Authority’s Reptiles at Risk program with funding from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s Species at Risk Stewardship Fund. If residents are interested in providing some habitat enhancements on your own property or would like more information please contact Kelli Smith at [email protected].