The Narcisse Snake Dens is a provincial wildlife management area located in the Rural Municipality of Armstrong about 6 km (3.7 mi) north of Narcisse, Manitoba . The dens are the winter home of tens of thousands of red-sided garter snakes ( Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis ). These pits are know to house the largest concentration of this particular type of snake in the world. Their winter dens are caverns formed by the area's water-worn limestone bedrock . In the spring, they come up from their dens to the snake pits, where they mate, then they disperse into the nearby marshes for the summer.
19-438: The population of red-sided garter snakes around Narcisse was roughly 70,000 until terrible weather in 1999 killed tens of thousands of them before they could reach their winter dens. [1] This tragedy triggered concern about the snakes' biannual migratory path, which cuts right across Highway 17 . Every year, 10,000 snakes which try to get to or from their winter dens had been crushed under the wheels of vehicles. This had not been
38-416: A concurrency (overlap) with PR 229 as it travels through Inwood , where it makes a sharp turn to the north at a junction with PR 416 . PR 229 splits off shortly thereafter and PTH 17 winds its way north through a mix of farmland and wooded areas for the next several kilometers, passing through Narcisse , where it crosses a former railroad line as well as having intersections with Road 114N (which leads to
57-427: A problem before, because the vast population compensated for the losses. But after the winter of 1999, the population of garter snakes became dangerously low, causing Manitoba Hydro and volunteers to intervene. Foot-high snow fences were built to force snakes into six-inch (15-cm) tunnels that went under Highway 17. Since some snakes still managed to squeeze under the fence and onto the road, signs were put up during
76-476: Is a rural, two-lane highway. Prior to 1964, PTH 17 was the designation of the route connecting PTH 3 near Crystal City to the US border . This highway is now the southernmost section of PTH 34 . Originally, the section north of PR 231 (along with the section of PR 231 from there to PTH 7) was the northern configuration of PTH 7 between 1956 and 1966 before it was reconfigured to its current route. After PTH 7
95-567: Is the mating season, and also in early September, when the snakes slither back down to their winter dens. Manitoba Provincial Highway 17 Provincial Trunk Highway 17 ( PTH 17 ) is a provincial highway in the Canadian province of Manitoba . It runs from a junction with PR 224 and PR 325 near Hodgson to a junction with PTH 9 near Winnipeg Beach . PTH 17 is signed as a north-south route from PR 325 to PTH 7 at Teulon and an east-west route from PTH 7 to PTH 9. The majority of
114-503: The eastern side of Fisher Branch , where it junctions with PR 233 and crosses a creek, before continuing north to become concurrent with PR 325 . PTH 17 / PR 325 make a sharp curve to the east to pass through Hodgson and cross Bottle Creek before coming to an intersection with PR 224 at the southern edge of the Peguis First Nation , where PTH 17 ends and the road continues east as PR 325. The entire length of PTH 17
133-442: The migratory season urging motorists to slow down to avoid accidentally driving over snakes. These measures worked, and now fewer than 1000 snakes per season are killed on the highway. By 2024, the snake populations had mostly rebounded, with the number of snakes varying annually from 75,000–150,000. The conservation area is open to the public. The snakes are most active during the spring and fall, in late April to early May, which
152-542: The most serious poverty crises in all of Manitoba. On September 21, 1936 Lord Tweedsmuir , the Governor General of Canada, paid a visit to the region. When the school term opened, teacher Olga Uhryniuk received an official notice from the government that the Governor General was making a Canada-wide tour and that he planned to meet with the citizens of the hamlet of Fraserwood. Tweedsmuir visited
171-669: The president of the Jewish Colonization Association (JCA or ICA), by the residents of Bender Hamlet , a Jewish farm colony located 2 km east of Narcisse. During the Great Depression , the rural municipalities of Armstrong, Kreuzberg and Chatfield were dissolved, and were administered as the Local Government District of Armstrong. The region was heavily affected by failure of the wheat crop in this era, resulting in one of
190-415: The railway line that was constructed three years earlier. These were located in the hamlets of Malonton, Meleb, Rembrandt and Kreuzberg. The hamlet of Kreuzburg was renamed Fraserwood during World War I , due to anti- German sentiments. Its name is derived from the surname of the postmaster at the time, Wood, and his wife's maiden name Fraser. The hamlet of Narcisse was named after Narcisse Leven , then
209-490: The route is paved, with a gravel section between PTH 8 and PTH 9. The speed limit is 100 km/h (62 mph) except through urban areas. The route near Narcisse can be very dangerous as thousands of snakes cross PTH 17 to get to/from the Narcisse Snake Dens . As snakes are run over by vehicles, the road becomes very slippery. A series of 'garter-snake fences' were built in this area to protect both
SECTION 10
#1732798547267228-526: The school and made an address to the students and numerous community members. The local government district of Armstrong was subsequently reconstituted as a rural municipality in 1997. The area is also home to the Narcisse Snake Dens , a provincial wildlife management area which is the world's largest known winter den for garter snakes . The rural municipality encompasses and governs the hamlets of Chatfield, Fraserwood, Inwood, Komarno, Malonton, Meleb, Narcisse, Neveton, Rembrandt, Sandridge and Silver. In
247-695: The site of Bender Hamlet ) and PR 231 . The highway passes by the Narcisse Snake Dens and the community of Chatfield , where it has an intersection with PR 419 , before crossing into the Rural Municipality of Fisher . PTH 17 has many switchbacks along its route in the Rural Municipality of Armstrong. PTH 17 almost immediately travels through Poplarfield , where it crosses PTH 68 , as it heads due north through farmland to have intersections with Road 134N, which provides accessible to Broad Valley , and PR 329 . The highway travels along
266-450: The snakes and vehicle traffic. PTH 17 begins in the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews at an intersection with PTH 9 a few kilometers south of Winnipeg Beach , with the road heading due west as a gravel road. 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) later, it has an intersection with PTH 8 , where the highway becomes paved, crossing into the Rural Municipality of Rockwood after a few kilometers of rural farmland. PTH 17 then travels straight through
285-453: The town of Teulon , where it has an intersection with PTH 7 , before curving northwest and winding its way through woodlands for the next several kilometers, where it passes by Norris Lake Provincial Park , before entering the Rural Municipality of Armstrong . At the intersection with PTH 7 in Teulon, PTH 17 switches signed cardinal directions from east-west to north-south. PTH 17 begins
304-427: The year 1900 by other individuals from the village of Kopychentsi , Ukraine. The hamlet of Kreuzberg received its first post office in 1910. The area was originally incorporated as three distinct rural municipalities, Armstrong , Kreuzberg and Chatfield , in 1913. Incorporating much of the marginal farmland on the western edge of the Rural Municipality of Gimli , this area saw a number of schools built along
323-537: Was designated in 1983, replacing part of PR 228, but its south end was at PTH 7. In 1987, PTH 17 was extended east to PTH 8, replacing the remainder of PR 228. It extended east to its current end in 1989. This final extension is a gravel road. Narcisse, Manitoba Armstrong is a rural municipality in the province of Manitoba in Western Canada . It lies in the southern area of the Interlake and
342-399: Was named after James William Armstrong , a Manitoba politician. The surrounding area was settled by immigrants from western Ukraine at the start of the 20th century. Amongst the original settlers were Michael Pomaransky and Stefan Humeny who settled section 14-19-2E, approximately ten miles west of the community of Gimli . A sizeable community developed as these settlers were joined in
361-552: Was reconfigured to Arborg , the route was redesignated as PTH 16 . The section south of what is now PR 231 was designated as PR 228 . The route number was eliminated in 1979 when the Manitoba portion of the Yellowhead Highway was changed from PTH 4 to PTH 16 so that the route maintained one number throughout the four western provinces. PTH 16 was eliminated and it became an extension of PR 228 and PR 231. PTH 17
#266733