"The Northern Pacific Rattlesnake is a stout snake, distinguished from all other B.C. snakes by 3 features; a rattle on the end of its tail, a very distinct neck, and a broad, triangular head. Even their faces are unique – rattlesnakes have fairly large eyes with vertical pupils, a long, dark cheek patch, and they have deep pits between their nostrils and their eyes that contain heat-sensing cells. The only species of rattlesnake found in B.C., the Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, also is the only truly venomous species in our province." bc.reptiles.ca
Love them or hate them, rattlesnakes are a significant part of Kalamalka Lake’s history – especially on the north-eastern shores where Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park has now been established. The early European settler’s tended to take a negative view of the rattlesnake as is seen in many passages of the Okanagan Historical Society Reports. This attitude pervaded into the early 20th century as can been seen in this WW2 soldier’s account of his training time in the area:
“One of the first things they taught us in Vernon was to catch rattlesnakes on the range at Rattlesnake Point. We had a big wooden barrel and in that barrel we usually kept five or six rattlesnakes. We did a lot of roaming around these hills with our units and many of the boys didn't even know what a rattlesnake looked like or what he sounded like.” (Walker MacNeil, OHSR 1983 p.23)
But as for the most famous of all rattlesnake hunters in the Okanagan we must look at the story of the Mackie brother’s Vernon Preparatory School for Boys during the Polio outbreak of 1927, the death of one young student by venom and the deep grief and eventual revenge that it created in the heart of Augustine (Austin) Mackie. Austin’s brother Hugh Mackie tells the story:
“In the range camp were two brothers, sons of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Whittall, a well-known Vancouver business man. As the time of our release drew near, Mrs. Whittall decided to come up to take her boys home and wrote to tell them so. The younger lad, a charming little chap and a special favourite of mine for the previous four or five years, decided to give his mother a pleasant surprise: he would get her some rattlesnake skins for a belt.
The day before she arrived, he and a friend, without telling anyone of their intention, slipped out of the camp - it was impossible to prevent such a thing with so many tents so widely separated - and went up to the top of the hill overlooking Ravine (Deep) Lake where there were many caves in the rock. They must have previously discovered the particular one they were making for (we knew nothing of its existence) and knew it to be the haunt of rattlers…
The boy made two fatal mistakes: he under-estimated the distance a snake can strike and over-estimated the length of his stick. Almost at his first blow he was bitten by a large snake. Then he made the worst mistake of all - instead of gashing the wound with his knife (if he had one) he dropped his stick and rushed down to the camp over a mile away, thus accelerating the spread of the venom throughout his body. He arrived in a complete state of exhaustion and shock and we instantly got in touch with the Doctors in Vernon, only to be informed that there was no "anti-venom” on hand, either in Vernon or Kelowna, or in fact in the entire Province. The nearest supply was in the U.S.A. - Washington or Oregon.
No plane was available there - a messenger was rushed off on a motor-cycle, but it broke down near the border, and the plasma did not arrive till late the next day. By then it was too late - the poison had spread all over the body and in the afternoon the poor little victim died….
After young Whittall’s death, my brother vowed vengeance upon the whole tribe of them and so started the campaign against them which made his name familiar throughout B.C. and beyond. He was tireless in hunting them down, not only throughout the Okanagan Valley, and around Kamloops, but in Alberta too. By the time increasing years (86) prevented any more such activities, he had accounted for well over 4,000...” (OHSR 1965 p. 48-49)
In this haunting story we can see the personal agony that must have driven Austin Mackie but, of course, we can also appreciate that this was not a positive response and the rattlesnakes of Kalamalka suffered for it.
Many years later, in June of 1985, James Malcolm Macartney, a biology student at the University of Victoria, published his master’s thesis: “The Ecology of the Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis oreganus, In British Columbia”. Much of the detailed study took part in Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park and the lands belonging to the Coldstream Ranch – the same areas that Mr. Mackie would have hunted. This study has since become a foundational Rattlesnake study for biologists all over North America.
Macartney reported 15 dens (or Hibernacula) in Kal Park and another 7 dens on the Coldstream Ranch in the early 1980’s. The total number of snakes found accounted for was far fewer than the estimated number of rattlesnakes killed by Mr. Mackie alone. (p. 5, 20-21).
In 2018, Marcus Atkins, a biology student at Thomson Rivers University undertook a study to follow up on Macartney’s famous thesis. He has been working closely with the rattlesnakes in the same areas and hopes to have results in late 2019. It is hoped that Rattlesnake numbers have increased and a balanced ecosystem can become the norm for this area.
Rattlesnake safety tips from wildsafebc.com:
Rattlesnake bites are very rare in British Columbia and are almost never fatal. Most snake bites are due to people deliberately trying to handle or harm rattlesnakes. The most important thing to remember is to get the victim to the hospital.
If you are bitten:
1. Stay calm and remove yourself from the area. Move slowly or be carried.
2. Remove any constrictive clothing or jewelry, which otherwise would act as a tourniquet and concentrate the venom and prevent fresh blood from entering the area (which is not desirable).
3. Go to the nearest hospital. Phone ahead if possible, or phone 911. Preferably, have someone else drive you.
4. Mark swelling with lines and times every 10 minutes or so. This will help doctors assess the severity of the bite.
5. If necessary, you may clean the bite area to prevent further infection.
6. Do not:
· Apply a tourniquet
· Make an incision
· Attempt to suck out the venom
· Ice the wound
· Kill the snake
· Bring the snake to the hospital. Snakes are protected by law and doctors do not need to identify a snake to treat snakebite in BC.
Love them or hate them, rattlesnakes are a significant part of Kalamalka Lake’s history – especially on the north-eastern shores where Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park has now been established. The early European settler’s tended to take a negative view of the rattlesnake as is seen in many passages of the Okanagan Historical Society Reports. This attitude pervaded into the early 20th century as can been seen in this WW2 soldier’s account of his training time in the area:
“One of the first things they taught us in Vernon was to catch rattlesnakes on the range at Rattlesnake Point. We had a big wooden barrel and in that barrel we usually kept five or six rattlesnakes. We did a lot of roaming around these hills with our units and many of the boys didn't even know what a rattlesnake looked like or what he sounded like.” (Walker MacNeil, OHSR 1983 p.23)
But as for the most famous of all rattlesnake hunters in the Okanagan we must look at the story of the Mackie brother’s Vernon Preparatory School for Boys during the Polio outbreak of 1927, the death of one young student by venom and the deep grief and eventual revenge that it created in the heart of Augustine (Austin) Mackie. Austin’s brother Hugh Mackie tells the story:
 |
| Photo Credit: web.uvic.ca |
“In the range camp were two brothers, sons of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Whittall, a well-known Vancouver business man. As the time of our release drew near, Mrs. Whittall decided to come up to take her boys home and wrote to tell them so. The younger lad, a charming little chap and a special favourite of mine for the previous four or five years, decided to give his mother a pleasant surprise: he would get her some rattlesnake skins for a belt.
The day before she arrived, he and a friend, without telling anyone of their intention, slipped out of the camp - it was impossible to prevent such a thing with so many tents so widely separated - and went up to the top of the hill overlooking Ravine (Deep) Lake where there were many caves in the rock. They must have previously discovered the particular one they were making for (we knew nothing of its existence) and knew it to be the haunt of rattlers…
The boy made two fatal mistakes: he under-estimated the distance a snake can strike and over-estimated the length of his stick. Almost at his first blow he was bitten by a large snake. Then he made the worst mistake of all - instead of gashing the wound with his knife (if he had one) he dropped his stick and rushed down to the camp over a mile away, thus accelerating the spread of the venom throughout his body. He arrived in a complete state of exhaustion and shock and we instantly got in touch with the Doctors in Vernon, only to be informed that there was no "anti-venom” on hand, either in Vernon or Kelowna, or in fact in the entire Province. The nearest supply was in the U.S.A. - Washington or Oregon.
No plane was available there - a messenger was rushed off on a motor-cycle, but it broke down near the border, and the plasma did not arrive till late the next day. By then it was too late - the poison had spread all over the body and in the afternoon the poor little victim died….
After young Whittall’s death, my brother vowed vengeance upon the whole tribe of them and so started the campaign against them which made his name familiar throughout B.C. and beyond. He was tireless in hunting them down, not only throughout the Okanagan Valley, and around Kamloops, but in Alberta too. By the time increasing years (86) prevented any more such activities, he had accounted for well over 4,000...” (OHSR 1965 p. 48-49)
 |
| Vernon Preparatory School c. 1932 |
In this haunting story we can see the personal agony that must have driven Austin Mackie but, of course, we can also appreciate that this was not a positive response and the rattlesnakes of Kalamalka suffered for it.
Many years later, in June of 1985, James Malcolm Macartney, a biology student at the University of Victoria, published his master’s thesis: “The Ecology of the Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis oreganus, In British Columbia”. Much of the detailed study took part in Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park and the lands belonging to the Coldstream Ranch – the same areas that Mr. Mackie would have hunted. This study has since become a foundational Rattlesnake study for biologists all over North America.
Macartney reported 15 dens (or Hibernacula) in Kal Park and another 7 dens on the Coldstream Ranch in the early 1980’s. The total number of snakes found accounted for was far fewer than the estimated number of rattlesnakes killed by Mr. Mackie alone. (p. 5, 20-21).
In 2018, Marcus Atkins, a biology student at Thomson Rivers University undertook a study to follow up on Macartney’s famous thesis. He has been working closely with the rattlesnakes in the same areas and hopes to have results in late 2019. It is hoped that Rattlesnake numbers have increased and a balanced ecosystem can become the norm for this area.
 |
| The Northern Pacific Rattlesnake is the only rattlesnake found in British Columbia and one of only three remaining rattlesnake species in all of Canada (wildsafebc.com). Photo Credit: Dr. Karl Larsen |
Rattlesnake safety tips from wildsafebc.com:
Rattlesnake bites are very rare in British Columbia and are almost never fatal. Most snake bites are due to people deliberately trying to handle or harm rattlesnakes. The most important thing to remember is to get the victim to the hospital.
If you are bitten:
1. Stay calm and remove yourself from the area. Move slowly or be carried.
2. Remove any constrictive clothing or jewelry, which otherwise would act as a tourniquet and concentrate the venom and prevent fresh blood from entering the area (which is not desirable).
3. Go to the nearest hospital. Phone ahead if possible, or phone 911. Preferably, have someone else drive you.
4. Mark swelling with lines and times every 10 minutes or so. This will help doctors assess the severity of the bite.
5. If necessary, you may clean the bite area to prevent further infection.
6. Do not:
· Apply a tourniquet
· Make an incision
· Attempt to suck out the venom
· Ice the wound
· Kill the snake
· Bring the snake to the hospital. Snakes are protected by law and doctors do not need to identify a snake to treat snakebite in BC.
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