Why not Visit a Serpentarium

NATURE ARTICLE BY EARL PLATO
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A WET SATURDAY - WHY NOT VISIT A SERPENTARIUM?

It was a wet, miserable day in late November. With two of our grandchildren in tow, my wife and I headed to Seaway Mall, Welland. We had never visited the Serpentarium. We had heard good things about it. Armed with a coupon, senior citizen status for me, and one of the two grandchildren who was five, we saved several dollars in admission. We had arrived at 10:00 a.m.; it didn't open until eleven.
Once inside we were pleasantly surprised. Turtles of various sizes, some with strange shapes and pure white underbodies, were swimming in huge holding tanks. The grandchildren were fascinated with them as these animals dove and rose to the surface. We walked to our left. There were tanks and cages on both sides of the aisle.
A huge Boa Constrictor was opposite an enormous Orinoco Crocodile that grows to a maximum 18 ft.. Which side to choose was a problem so we decided to do the outside tanks and then return to see the glass cages of the venomous and nonvenomous snakes and reptiles.
They actually have a functioning lab in which snake eggs such as cobras are hatched. Amazing! We were able to see our resident Massasauga rattlesnake and a fine specimen of a Timber Rattlesnake that once existed in our Niagara Glen Gorge not too many years ago. There were lizards and Gila Monsters all presented in as natural settings as possible. Our two grandchildren seemed to enjoy the adventure but I'll return to view these animals alone at a more leisurely pace. We had promised the grandchildren a treat after the viewing and three-quarters of the way through they remembered.

MUTE IS NOT IN
Let me explain about my title. I recently visited Bill Peart of Ridgeway to discuss an original Civil War book about the infamous Andersonville Prison. After we had made a mutual exchange on books, Bill showed me a huge mute white swan realistically mounted. I explained to Bill that seeing the mute swan with its orange bill with a distinctive black knob at the base gave me an idea for a story.
ANOTHER INVADER OF OUR MARSHES
No, I'm not talking about a new species of "Purple Loosestrife." I'm talking about the "Bullies of the Marsh" a title for an article in the August issue of Out of Doors magazine written by Robert M. Allison. He says, "There are too many mute swans in Ontario and biologists are unsure of how to stop them from expanding their number and range."
Why all the excitement? We read that the big problem is that mute swans are aggressive toward other waterfowl. Bill Peart had me feel the sharp bony structure on each wing of his specimen. Along with the stout beak and powerfully equipped wings even humans could suffer some damage.
A mute swan male can be five feet high and with wings outspread almost 8 feet wide, That's one large bird.
These swans establish territories averaging more than 10 acres around the nest and much larger than that after the broods hatch. They really do attack other waterfowl broods and often kill them. As these mute swans grow in number they choke off more and more wetlands from other waterfowl. Sounds awfully familiar, eh? Remember the purple plague?
Nature writer Allison says, "that no one is sure where Ontario's mute swans came from." We saw them this past summer as we travelled through the heartland of Denmark. The Audubon handbook tells us that they are found from Denmark in the west to Siberia in the east. They evolved in cold climates and have made themselves right at home in Ontario. The earliest record of them was at Long Point, Ontario in 1934. They have few natural enemies. They have mutiplied rapidly since then and by 1970 they have ranged as far north as Cochrane.
Now at Point Abino, almost every year, 300-500 Whistling or Trumpeter Swans, native Canadians, come into Abino bay and stay for a short while. They are a sight to behold and a unforgettable sound to hear. These swans do not have the black knob at the base of the bill. They are not aggressive like the foreign mute. Sounds like typical peace loving Ontarians don't they?
Robert Allison strongly believes that there must be an active mute swan control before it's too late. Read his article and see why "Mute is Not In" and what drastic measures he advocates.
AT YOUR BACKDOOR STEP
Neighbour, Orlan Ferguson, came to my front door early in December. He said something to the effect that he read my nature columns and mentioned the title I once used, Nature at Your Doorstep. He wanted me to come out back to my backstep. I was babysitting a sleeping granddaughter and quietly headed to the back door.
Orland asked, "Have you been watching them?" I didn't know what he was talking about. "Up there." He pointed to a leafy globe high up in the maple over my head. This so-called naturalist in his trips to put the garbage in the little shed out back had missed the construction of this squirrel nest. Orland went on to add,
"I was sitting out back and I saw the black female squirrel come out of your nest and meet with her black male friend. They mated and now she's safe and secure in her home."
Now gestation period is about 44 days but usually you see baby black squirrels born about March or April in our part of the country. Remember black and gray squirrels do not hibernate so our male friend will probably return for a few more visits.
I told my wife when she returned about our black squirrel's nest out back. Her reply was, "Haven't you seen it before?" Nature is at your doorstep both at the front and back doors. Look around, look down and Earl don't forget to look up.