Killbear Ecopassage #4 - Killbear Park, Ontario - Man-made Animal Bridges and Crossings on Waymarking.com

According to a blog post on the Ontario Parks blog, there are four ecopassages located inside Killbear Provincial Park:

"A spike in snake mortality on Killbear roads was first noted in 2005. By 2007, staff started adding special fencing to stop the snakes from crossing the roads."

"Killbear’s first ecopassage was built in 2010. Three more have been added since. The specially designed culverts built under park roads allow for air and light to pass through which is thought to make them more attractive to snakes than regular culverts"

Source: www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/ecopassages-help-wildlife-cross-roads-safely/ (visit link)

Two of the passageways are located along the road which leads to the Day-Use area ("Day Use Road") and the other two are located along the road leading to the Blind Bay campground. This waymarks is for the passageway along day Use Road closest to the Day Use parking lot. The designation of #4 is after Colley (2015), Figure 1.1, pg 66 and likely reflects the numbering system used by the park staff.

These passageways are simple in design. A concrete channel approximately 3 feet wide is built beneath and flush to the roadway surface, with steel grating used to cover the top of the channel. Fencing is used on either end to direct reptiles, amphibians, and small animals towards the passageway instead of allowing the access to the road surface. It appears that electronic sensors or instruments are located at one end of each passageway, intended to collect data on animals using the passageways. Wildlife cameras and PIT tag sensors have been (and may still be) used to collect data on passageway usage, particularly by the endangered Massasauga rattlesnake (Colley, 2015).

References:
Colley, 2015. Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Mitigation Structures at the Population Level. MSc Thesis submitted by Michael Colley. available from zone.biblio.laurentian.ca (visit link)

Type of Passage: Wildlife Tunnel Website for more information: [Web Link] Parking Coordinates: You can park along the roadway at the Ecopassage or in the nearby parking lot If 'Other' please list type of passage used: Not listed

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Date Logged Log   02/01/2019 wildernessmama visited it