Reptiles at Risk

Greetings from Sean

Posted by Jeff Hathaway on July 17, 2008 at 6:26 PM

The past week has been an amazing and unfamiliar experience for me. In Ontario, some of the highlights included, doing a show at Science North, experiencing the frigid waters of lake Superior, and drinking in the spectacular landscapes surrounding the greatest of our great lakes. Having never been further North than Sudbury, it was especially exciting to enter a much truer form of wilderness than I have ever experienced. Despite the abnormally cold, wet weather, the iritating abundance of mosquitos and a lingering cold amongst the crew, we still managed to enjoy the sights, sounds and shows of the journey.

On July 13, we crossed the Ontario/Manitoba Border. We made a quick stop to take a touristy group picture at the sign indicating our entrance into Manitoba and then hurried back into the van and down the Trans-Canada for our afternoon show at Whiteshell Provincial Park. For any Ontarian as unfamiliar with Whiteshell as I was, it is, in many ways, Manitoba's equivalent to Algonquin. We made it just in time to do our show at the Alfred Hoole Sanctuary within the parks borders. We had a large and enthusiastic audience and consequently, one of our best shows yet. We had the rest of the day off and enjoyed a quick dip and our first leisurely evening.

The following day, we decided to visit the petroforms - rock formations created by traditional Objibway people - that the park is famous for. We were lucky enough to arrive at the site at about the same time as the petroform tour guide, Ron, who has been visiting the site for over 50 years! Ron was extremely friendly and was quite intrigued to hear about the Reptiles at Risk on the Road project, so we showed him a couple of the animals before entering into his realm of expertise. Ron was a fantastic guide! He shared his vast knowledge of the Ojibway culture and history. We all thoroughly enjoyed the experience and were especially happy to find out that many of the rock formations were in the shape of turtles and snakes! It was nice to finally have an opportunity to take a break from our fast-paced schedule and explore our surroundings. We are definitely looking forward to many more of such endeavors in the near future!

Sean