The Snake Scientist

The Snake Scientist
(Scientists in the Field Series)
Houghton Mifflin, 1999

The Snake Scientist

“You hear them before you see them. On a quiet day, as you approach one of the dens at the Narcisse Wildlife Management Area in Manitoba, Canada, you can hear a rustling like wind in dry leaves.
        It’s the sound of thousands of slithering snakes.
        When you look over the fence into the shallow limestone pit, at first it seems as if the ground is moving. But it’s not the ground—it’s 18,000 red-sided garter snakes!”
        —from The Snake Scientist.

Sy Mongomery and snakesThis book for children in grades 4 through 8 highlights the maverick field work of scientist Bob Mason as he studies the phenomenal gatherings of red-sided garter snakes in the Narcisse Snake Pits of Manitoba, Canada. The text is copiously illustrated with photos by award-winning nature photographer Nic Bishop.