Rattlesnake bites

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For those cottaging up north this weekend, there is something you should know, there have been a higher than normal number of rattlesnake bites in Ontario this year.

It may surprise many to learn that rattlesnakes live in Ontario.

This year there have already been 8 bites in the province which is considered to be very high, most were treated in hospital and there have been no deaths.

Our local rattlesnake is called the Massasauga rattler and there are about 32 thousand of them.

They live in the area surrounding Georgian Bay, the Bruce Penninsula and Muskokas.

There is no exact reason why there have been more bites this year, but the recent heat can drive the snakes from their usual homes on high ground, down towards water and marsh lands and this is typically where they have the most encounters with humans.