NALT is collaborating with ecological consultants on the Pacific Coast population of Sharp-tailed Snake to help collect data on sightings. The consultants have been studying the Pacific Coast population of Sharp-tailed Snakes since they were designated endangered by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) in 1999. In 2021, their status was downgraded to threatened. Sharp-tailed Snakes have recently been observed in the south Nanaimo area and may occur further north on Vancouver Island. There is still a lot that we need to learn about this species! Sharing your sightings can help us fill in those data gaps.

About Sharp-tailed snakes

These elusive critters spend much of their time underground, which makes them challenging to find. They are about the size of a pencil when full grown. Adults are reddish-brown in colour, and young snakes are a brighter reddish-orange.

These gentle, non-venomous snakes are great for your garden as they eat native slugs! They need habitat like rotting wood and loose rocks to hide in as well as openings with sunny exposures to warm up in, which are also great habitats for them to lay their eggs.