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The Big One by Earl Plato

We have been to Pelee Island in Lake Erie in search of the Blue Runner snake. We saw the over five foot reptile mounted in the local museum. We saw no live ones on our short stay. However, this article is about (elaphe obsolete) Canada’s largest snake the Black Ratsnake. It can reach a length of over 200 centimeters. That’s over five and a half feet! As a youth on the way to school I saw the huge black snake in the Helena Street ditch, One of the Erie Beach boys stoned it to death. Back then j the only good snake was “ a “dead one.” Thanks to Fraser and Owen Darling of the Niagara Falls Nature Club who have a resident Black Ratsnake as their friend at their family cottage near Kingston, Ontario. Here is some of the Darling brothers observation.
“In a hollow tree. We often observed Black snake sunning itself. We have also seen the snake crawling through thru cottage yard and in a trailer on the property. We have decided that the snake thinks the trailer is his for we see him he is often sleeping under a sleeping bag! Luckily we found one in our mom’s kayak before she went paddling out on the lake.” The boys give some advice about the big Black Rat snake as follows: “ Don’t be afraid of them for they will not hurt you. They only want to be left alone.”
The Darling brothers end with this, “We will be back up at the cottage in July and look forward to checking in on our friend the Black Ratsnake!”