{"id":852145,"date":"2026-08-09T19:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T19:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/852145\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T19:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T19:36:11","slug":"found-a-dead-smooth-green-snake-on-p-e-i-wildlife-officials-ask-you-to-freeze-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/852145\/","title":{"rendered":"Found a dead smooth green snake on P.E.I.? Wildlife officials ask you to freeze it"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

Prince Edward Island wildlife officials are asking residents to bag and freeze any dead smooth green snakes they come across to assist with conservation research.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019d love if you could place it in a plastic bag and put it in your freezer,” said Julie-Lynn Zahavich, a forest conservation specialist with P.E.I.\u2019s Forests, Fish and Wildlife division. “Then contact us through telephone or our Facebook page and we’ll come collect it.”<\/p>\n

Smooth green snakes are P.E.I.\u2019s rarest reptile and are currently listed as “potentially imperilled.”<\/a> While the province previously asked the public to report live sightings, researchers now require physical specimens for genetic testing.<\/p>\n

Zahavich said studying dead specimens helps researchers gauge the population’s overall genetic diversity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s pretty important for the health of the population here in P.E.I., because populations with a higher genetic diversity tend to be able to adapt to things better,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"AJulie-Lynn Zahavich, a forest conservation specialist with the P.E.I. Forests, Fish and Wildlife division, is asking Islanders to take home and freeze any dead smooth green snakes they find. (Jane Robertson\/CBC)<\/p>\n

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Islanders who prefer not to handle dead snakes can report location details instead, though time is critical.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s a bit tricky because we are competing with scavengers like crows, ravens and foxes who would see a dead smooth green snake as an easy meal,” Zahavich said. “We did have a couple calls last year, but we didn’t make it in time.”<\/p>\n

Searchers should also know that dead smooth green snakes do not stay green.<\/p>\n

“They’re of course known for their bright green colour, but when they die they can turn like a bright turquoise or blue colour,” Zahavich said.<\/p>\n

Alive, the snakes appear green because light passes through a top layer of yellow pigment and reflects off a blue layer underneath. When the snake dies, the yellow pigment breaks down rapidly, leaving only the blue layer visible.<\/p>\n

Anyone who finds a specimen is asked to secure it in a plastic bag, freeze it immediately and contact the Forests, Fish and Wildlife division.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 2 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":852146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-852145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=852145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/852146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}