Executive summary

Recovery strategy for the Eastern Foxsnake (Pantherophis gloydi) – Carolinian and Georgian Bay populations in Ontario

Prepared by the Eastern Foxsnake Recovery Team

The Eastern Foxsnake (Pantherophis gloydi) occurs in two restricted regions of Ontario, the Carolinian Forest region and the eastern side of Georgian Bay. Provincially, the Carolinian population and the Georgian Bay population are designated under the Endangered Species Act, 2007 as endangered and threatened respectively. Federally, the species is designated by the Species at Risk Act as endangered in both the Carolinian and Great Lakes/St. Lawrence populations. Causes of the species decline include wetland drainage for agriculture, impacts resulting from housing and cottage development, road mortality, human persecution and collection for the pet trade. For survival, Eastern Foxsnakes require a mosaic of habitat types that include open foraging habitat, thermoregulating sites, suitable hibernation sites, egg-laying sites and natural corridors linking them. They are usually associated with shorelines, islands or wetlands near the Great Lakes.

The recovery goal for Eastern Foxsnake in Ontario is to ensure population persistence, maintain the current range of occupancy and enhance connectivity of Eastern Foxsnake within both the Carolinian and Georgian Bay populations. The main objectives to achieving recovery are to:

  1. track the state of populations and recovery of the species;
  2. improve knowledge of populations, habitat use and threats;
  3. identify and protect habitat and habitat connections within the current distribution;
  4. reduce mortality by minimizing the threats;
  5. enhance, restore and reconnect populations; and,
  6. promote protection of the species through legislation, policies and land use plans.

Each of these objectives is divided into components and specific steps are recommended to achieve them.

The recovery team has recommended areas to be prescribed as habitat in a habitat for both the Georgian Bay and Carolinian populations. This recommendation includes hibernation and oviposition sites and associated habitat. For hibernacula, it is recommended that the area within 100 metres of known or suspected entrances/exits be prescribed as habitat in a habitat regulation. Additionally, for the Carolinian population it is recommended that natural or anthropogenic structures that extend below the frost line within 1500 metres of an area where one or more Eastern Foxsnakes have been observed in the past ten years also be prescribed as habitat to account for hibernacula that have not been identified. As a precautionary approach to protect undetected hibernacula used by the Georgian Bay population, the recovery team recommends that the area within 100 metres of the high-water mark be prescribed as habitat until such time as it has been determined that Eastern Foxsnake hibernacula do not occur in the those areas.

For oviposition (nesting) sites, it is recommended that known oviposition sites and surrounding 30 meters be prescribed as habitat in the habitat regulation. Additionally, any feature (natural or man-made) that may function as an oviposition site should be prescribed as habitat in the regulation if Eastern Foxsnakes have been observed within 30 metres of the feature during the oviposition period. For the Carolinian population all potential natural oviposition features that are consistent in composition with, and which occur within one kilometre of known occupied oviposition sites should also be prescribed as habitat for the duration of the feature’s natural life. For the Georgian Bay population, all potential oviposition structures in appropriate habitat within 100 metres of the high-water mark (or in the exception area in Port Severn) should be prescribed as habitat for the duration of the structure’s natural life.

In addition to sites for hibernation and oviposition, Eastern Foxsnakes require habitat areas for foraging, mating, thermoregulation, shedding and movement corridors. For the Carolinian population it is recommended that the marsh and prairie habitat within the current occupied range of the Carolinian population be prescribed as habitat. For the Georgian Bay population the water between the shoreline and the outer islands and all lands and islands within one kilometre from the high-water mark should be prescribed as habitat with the exception of urban areas where the buffer should be reduced to 100 metres.