Additional detail about legal protection for species at risk in Ontario is available on our Legal Protection page. The species’ status was last confirmed in 2010. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has not assessed the global status of the milksnake. The habitat of this species is further protected in Ontario by the Provincial Policy Statement under the Planning Act. These acts offer protection to individuals and their habitat. The species has also been designated as a Specially Protected Reptile under the Ontario Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act. Milksnakes are listed as of Special Concern under the federal Species at Risk Act. The milksnake was listed as Special Concern under the Ontario Endangered Species Act, 2007. The eastern milksnake’s status was delisted from being a species at risk in Ontario in 2016. Juveniles of these and other species look very similar and can be very difficult to differentiate. This behaviour, combined with the snake’s blotchy patterning, causes many people to mistake it for a rattlesnake. When threatened, the milksnake vibrates its tail and, especially when it comes into contact with dry vegetation, makes a buzzing or “rattling” sound. The eastern Massasauga is very thick bodied compared with the long, narrow milksnake and has a rattle on a blunt tail, a vertical pupil and a triangular head. The eastern hog-nosed snake has a distinct upturned nose. Eastern foxsnakes have a yellow to light brown body with brown blotches that are not outlined in black (although the blotches of juvenile foxsnakes can have dark edges). The northern watersnake’s patterning consists of horizontal banding rather than blotches and is very faint on a much darker body. The milksnake may be confused with the northern watersnake, eastern foxsnake, eastern hog-nosed snake and eastern Massasauga. A Primer on Wetland Offsetting in Ontario. ![]() Northern Ecosystems and Nature-based Climate Solutions.
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