Giant snake hops onto boat platform in Kalamalka Lake

Lake Country resident Austin Hawthorne was out on his boat in Kalamalka Lake a few days ago when he saw something unusual swimming in the water.

He was with his dad in the south end of the lake on June 11 when a group of people on a pontoon boat alerted them of a snake heading their way.

“They told us there was a snake coming from across the lake and pointed in a general direction, so we idled over to see,” he said. “It swam around the boat, hopped up onto the swim platform and poked its head up. I got closer to take a look at it and it swam away.

“Maybe it needed a break, it was a big distance to swim from east to west at that section.”

A great basin gopher snake swims in deep water on Kalamalka Lake in July. SUBMITTED/ Austin Hawthorne

While Hawthorne has seen numerous small water snakes along the shoreline over the years, this snake was a big one called a great basin gopher snake and was cruising along in deep water.

“I’d say it was at least three feet long and couple of inches in diameter, it was pretty cool,” Hawthorne said. “I know if I came across it swimming it would have been a surprise, it was nice the people warned us.” 

One of seven species of snake that make the Thompson-Okanagan region home, the great basin gopher snake has a cream-coloured body marked with black blotches that become stripes on its tail, and it can grow more than six feet in length. The snakes are great for the ecosystem, eating a number of small mammals, rodents, reptiles and insects. They are also food for predatory birds and mammals, according to the Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship Society.

Although alarmingly large, the snake is not poisonous and is known for its swimming, climbing and burrowing skills.