Previously we shared the great spider photos that our report writer Mike Brand captured during his time doing archaeological survey work.
Today in honour of St Patrick’s Day we are bringing you a fresh round-up of Mike’s wildlife photos, this time featuring snakes snapped in and around Ontario archaeological sites!
Many of these snakes were photographed while doing survey work along Highway 69, such as the Eastern Hog-Nosed snake who happily posed for pictures while looking straight into the camera. Some of these snakes hail from further North in Ontario, including the garter snake relaxing on a sunny rock along the French River. Mike takes particular enjoyment in seeing the natural settings around the archaeological investigations he is involved with. As he puts it:
“One of the facets I enjoy most about survey work is being out in different landscapes. I always see so much interesting stuff around me, particularly when working out in the bush. I developed a minor obsession with wild orchids when I was doing survey in BC; until 1992 I had no idea they grew wild in North America! I have been fortunate to work with people like Rob Pihl and Peter Carruthers, I learned a lot about different landscapes when I was out with them.
I think I have a reputation for taking too many photos on projects, but I always looked at it from the perspective that I was probably one of the last people to see these places before they were completely altered by logging or construction, so why not document it. Photos are easy to take and digital film is cheap.”
Thanks to Mike for sharing these great photos with us!