They were just dealt a bad hand. They aren’t conventionally good-looking. They’re the least anthropomorphic of all reptiles and amphibians—they have no . And when have you seen a good snake in fiction? Even the jolly cartoons in Snakes & Ladders are to be avoided. They make you lose the game. Our fear, hatred, and revulsion sure hasn’t helped; snakes have had such a bad rap for such a long time that even today, human persecution is still a threat to their survival. Consequently, at least in part, about half of the snakes in Ontario alone—and plenty of others across North America—are considered endangered, threatened, or at risk. The Massasauga rattlesnake is gone from most of its historical range. Blue racers are now confined only to Pelee Island. And we’ve lost the timber rattlesnake entirely—its only crime was existing in
