

Chris Kitching, cp24.com





A snake that is native to Ontario is in custody after a Mississauga resident called police, fearing the scaly reptile may be a python, on Monday morning.

Peel Regional Police and animal control officers were called in to wrangle the milksnake after it was found in a Mississauga neighbourhood.

The brown snake, estimated to be a metre long, was found outside a home on Bessborough Court, near Winston Churchill Boulevard and Erin Centre Boulevard, police told CP24.

It's not known what animal control officers plan to do with the snake.

Milksnakes are found throughout southern Ontario and in parts of Quebec.

According to Ontario Nature, milksnakes are listed as “special concern” under the Ontario Endangered Species Act and “special concern” under the federal Species at Risk Act.

The species is also protected under the Ontario Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act.

Milksnakes can grow to over a metre in length, although most are much smaller, and tend to live in open habitats such as rocky outcrops, fields and forest edge, Ontario Nature said.

Humans pose a significant threat to the milksnake, which is grey or tan with red or reddish brown spots.

“Human persecution is a significant threat to the milksnake,” Ontario Nature says on its website. “People often kill it on sight, mistaking it for a venomous massasauga rattlesnake due to its colour and tendency to vibrate its tail when disturbed.

“Habitat loss due to urbanization, road construction and conversion of natural areas to agricultural uses are further threats to milksnake populations in Ontario,” the organization says. “Like most snakes in the province, milksnake (sic) are commonly killed on roads”

Predators include raccoons, skunks, foxes and coyotes.

Despite its name, milksnakes do not drink milk.

“The name of this species is derived from the false belief that it takes milk from cows in barns, which it often inhabits," Ontario Nature says. "Milksnakes cannot drink milk, however, and are attracted barns by the abundance of mice, the primary prey of this species.”

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