Vehicles crush 91 snakes in one day near Ojibway Park

Naturalists are sounding the alarm after adeadlydayfor at-risk and endangeredsnakes near a nature preserveinWindsor, Ont.

Wednesday, biologist Jonathan Choquette recorded 91 dead snakes that had been struck by traffic near the Ojibway Park Prairie Complex. At least 30 of those snakes are designatedspecies-at-risk, including the Butler's garter snake and the eastern fox snake. Those two species areendangered.

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• Ojibway Nature Centre warns drivers to watch for snakes on the roads

"I couldn't believe it," Choquette told CBC News. "It just blew me away."

Choquette has been researching road mortality in Ojibway since 2010. He's a co-author of a three-year study on the road mortality of reptiles that was recently published in Canadian Field Naturalistmagazine.

Most of the snakes were killed on Malden and MatchetteRoad, two busy road that connect Windsor and nearby LaSalle, Ont.

"It's surprising, it's shocking, especially when we're dealing with a site likeOjibwaywhich is a nationally recognized natural site,"Choquettesaid. "I had to stay out until dark because I saw so many of them."

It appearssnakesmovetoward hibernation spots and cross the roads to get there. With asphalt and pavement warming in the sun, the snakes could also be looking for warmth in the evening.

This isn't the first time snakes at Ojibwayand motorists have come into conflict. In 2014, the Ojibway Nature Centre began a public information campaign to warn drivers from hitting snakes.