Snakes On A Plain

Each year, thousands of red-sided garter snakes swarm out of their winter dens in Narcisse, Manitoba. We drove out in May to see them.

On the way, we found this statue of "Sam" and "Sara" in Inwood, Manitoba. Apparently the good and gentle denizens of this part of the world have an insatiable penchant for fashioning giant monuments to random things [this site has quite a few examples of the local epidemic over-sized oddness].

Narcisse is a tiny community. While we did not meet any, we presume the townsfolk to be quite arrogant and full of themselves.

The actual snakes. That's about all there is to it: just gobs of snakes hissing and writhing. After the socializing is finished, the snakes disperse into the surrounding prairies in search of the first food they've eaten all year.

Our reactions varied: Ella was excitedly making "shh" sounds the entire time. Shiloh was interested for a few minutes and then seemed to be saying, "What's the big deal?" Carol, who is quite firm in her dislike for snakes and all other slithering things, was in a state of controlled panic and was happy when we were headed back to the car.