Hello Everyone,

With the holiday weekend upon us, the staff here at the Visitor Centre are excited to start the summer with a new slew of programs. The kids are fresh out of school and the weather is beautiful, so there is no better way to kick off the summer than with a visit to Rondeau!

We want to take a quick second to say farewell to Scott V, a staff member who left us earlier this month to pursue a career in his field of schooling. Despite the fact that we will all miss Scott and his witty personality, we are excited to welcome Jessica R to the crew. Her friendly demeanour and great work ethic will be a great asset to our team! While you’re out in the park, take a minute to stop by the Visitor Centre and say hello to Jessica.

All of this beautiful weather has brought out many creatures who call Rondeau home. One of the creatures that have been spotted regularly during the past few months is the Eastern Foxsnake. If you’ve been to the Visitor Centre before, you’ve probably had a chance to see our Foxsnake “Pants” who has lived with us for almost 10 years. For those of you who have never seen an Eastern Foxsnake, they are easily identified by their orange coloured head and dark brown blotches that run the length of their body. The Foxsnake also grows much larger than any other snake, reaching lengths of up to 6ft, though most are smaller.

Here at the park we are taking special care to help protect the Foxsnake and its habitat. They are listed as an endangered species and desperately need our help to survive. Over the last few summers Brady and many other park staff have worked hard to catch these snakes inside the park and bring them back to the Visitor Centre to measure their length and weight. Once we do that, we insert a pit tag (a small microchip) under the skin that gives each snake a unique ID number which allows us to identify them if we happen to catch them again. Tracking the growth of individual snakes gives us a glimpse at the health of our Foxsnake population. But we would LOVE your help! Each one of you can play an important role in this research venture. If you’re out in the park and happen to see a Foxsnake slither by, give us a call at the Visitor Centre at 519-674-1768 and let us know where you are. If you are unable to call, simply keep track of when and where you saw the snake and let us know at a later time.

Don’t forget to take a look at the activity sheet for the upcoming week and go to facebook.com/pantsgloydi to stay up to date on our Foxsnake research and all the other exciting things happening throughout the park.