As celebrations begin across the world to mark the Year of the Snake, Metchosin's animal rehab centre is working hard to reverse the fortunes of a reptile who had a rather prickly start to the year.
Found lying motionless and unresponsive on the ground, a garter snake was brought into the care of the Wild ARC team, who noticed the animal had an object protruding from their body, explains a social media post by the rehab centre.
“It was clear something was very wrong,” they said.
Wild ARC staff acted quickly to save the "fragile wild animal," reaching out to a specialized veterinarian with the tools and expertise needed to uncover the issue.
A dental X-ray machine was used to capture detailed images of the snake’s delicate bones, which revealed a thorn – likely from a rose or blackberry plant – embedded inside the snake’s body.
The thorn was then surgically removed, and the snake is now recovering under the watchful care of the Wild ARC team.
Requiring professional specialized treatment, the rehab centre has launched a fundraiser to help support the recovery of the reptile.
The fundraiser has a goal of $1,500, with over $200 already donated as of noon on Wednesday (Jan 29).
“This little snake isn’t out of the woods yet, but with your kindness, it could have a second chance at life in the wild,” says Wild ARC.
The rehab centre says the money raised will be used for X-rays, surgery, specialized care, food and staff time, until the snake is healthy and ready to be returned to the wild.
“If funds raised go above and beyond the needs of this garter snake, your kind gift will help the next wild animal who needs urgent help at Wild ARC,” they added.
The garter snake rescue is Wild Arc’s first medical emergency of the year, and is notable as reptile and amphibian rescues are rare for the centre, accounting for less than one per cent.
It was recently reported the centre had rescued over 2,000 critters in 2024, with birds making up 70 per cent of patients and mammals 30 per cent.
For more information and to support Wild ARC, visit the website: https://medical.spca.bc.ca/animal/476.
