Hair-raising video captures massive snake slithering near busy boat ramp: 'It's taking itself on quite the adventure'
Local station 9 News Sydney shared a video showing a large red-tailed boa constrictor near a boat launch in the Sylvania area.
"These snakes are native to Brazil," the reporter shared. "So the assumption is this was someone's pet, it's gotten loose, and now it's taking itself on quite the adventure."
The news report added that the species isn't known to be aggressive and is actually considered "quite docile." But its constricting abilities can be dangerous, and people were warned to keep their distance and contact authorities if they spot the creature.
As the coverage from 9 News mentioned, the boa constrictor poses a threat to Australia's biosecurity. It is also illegal to own the animal as a pet in the country as a matter of protecting native species and local ecosystems, ABC News Australia explained.
The Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry has also described the economic significance of maintaining biosecurity — a term that generally refers to policies and procedures intended to safeguard humans, animals, food, agriculture, and the environment from potential biological dangers.
"Our biosecurity system protects agriculture, forestry and fisheries export industries worth $51 billion; a tourism sector worth $50 billion; environmental assets worth more than $5.7 trillion; and more than 1.6 million jobs," the DAFF explains. The department also notes that maintaining a healthy environment allows for better protection of the culture "of our wider community and First Nations people."
The red-tailed boa constrictor in this case posed the risk of becoming an invasive predator and throwing the local ecosystem out of balance. It also posed the risk of bringing illness, such as the fatal inclusion body disease, to native snake populations, according to ABC News Australia.
A few days after the snake was first spotted, ABC News Australia reported that it was successfully captured by Shire Snake Wranglers, a company licensed to handle snakes.
More broadly, Australia has the country's Biosecurity Act 2015 to help back efforts to protect both native and non-native species from potentially harmful situations.
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Meanwhile, last year, a joint initiative from DAFF and CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, launched the Catalysing Australia's Biodiversity project to invest $55 million over six years in continuing to innovate biosecurity measures. This came on top of the $1 billion already committed to the cause.
In addition to formal efforts to prevent animal trafficking and the spread of invasive species, awareness campaigns to educate the public about the many hazards of selling and buying animals outside the law may be helpful in supporting a culture shift away from owning exotic but illegal pets — including those with the potential to escape into local habitats.
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Hamilton Spectator
a day ago
- Hamilton Spectator
B.C. reports offer ‘road map' for repatriation of Indigenous items, remains
A pair of reports out of British Columbia are detailing the complex, expensive and under resourced process of repatriating Indigenous historical items or remains back to their homes. The studies, developed in partnership between the First Peoples' Cultural Council and K'yuu Enterprise Corporation, call for changes including the creation of a centralized body to facilitate the work, a repatriation accreditation program for museums and other institutions, and 'substantial' funding and support from the provincial and federal government. Gretchen Fox, an anthropologist and the council's acting heritage manager, said the growing interest in the moral and ethical requirement for repatriation shows resources are needed to set out steps that could be used in B.C. and in other provinces and territories. 'There was a need for a way forward, or a road map — what's involved in repatriation, what's the history of it,' she said. 'To have a really good understanding and documentation of what's been lost, where these ancestors and belongings are held today, and what kind of work specifically is involved in locating them.' Researchers with the K'yuu Enterprise Corporation did a survey and found more than 2,500 B.C. First Nation human remains and upwards of 100,000 belongings are known to be held in 229 institutions — including museums and universities — around the world. Fox said the survey had only a 50 per cent response rate. 'So, we know that the numbers are much higher, and those numbers are just for ancestors and belongings that are associated with B.C. First Nations,' she said. The main report breaks down repatriation into a four-step process starting with planning and research, followed by repatriation itself and the long-term caretaking of the items or remains. It says 60 per cent of B.C. First Nations surveyed have already spent more than $1 million on repatriation work to date. 'Since the Canadian government has yet to commit to dedicated repatriation legislation, policy and funding, many (B.C. First Nations) are reliant on grants and other mechanisms to support their repatriation work,' it says. The report says when applying for grant programs that aren't dedicated to repatriation, nations are forced to focus on strict funding criteria and narrow timelines rather than their own needs. In 2016, B.C. became the first province in Canada to offer a grant to help pay for repatriation. While the report calls that funding 'welcome,' it says the money has not kept pace with requests. It says repatriation in Canada is 'severely underfunded.' 'For decades, B.C. First Nations have funded this work through piecemeal grants and heavy reliance on volunteer labour,' it says. Fox said there are a range of costs, from paying personnel to the technology required to research where items are located or the cost to store them properly. A companion report offers what Fox calls a 'really high level' cost estimate It suggests that if all 204 B.C. First Nations were funded over five years to participate in repatriation at various stages it would cost an estimated $663 million. Fox said the number is not a request for funding, but rather an attempt to test the model and 'show the monumental, significant, costs of this.' The report says repatriation is also an economic and social driver with benefits like health and healing, jobs and community development. 'It has spiritual and cultural impacts of reconnecting with belongings and carrying out responsibilities to ancestors and It's so meaningful, even if it's engaged at a slower pace, or on a smaller scale,' Fox said. She said having a First Nation-led centralized organizing body and programming to facilitate repatriation would be helpful to provide the opportunity to pool experience and resources. 'First Nations in B.C. are really leading the way in repatriation, and quite a few have quite a bit of expertise and experience around doing the work and also insights into the kinds of supports, whether it's legislation (or) policy,' she said. Inviting museums and other holding institutions would also be beneficial, Fox said. In 2023, a totem pole that had been on display at the Royal B.C. Museum, was brought back to Bella Coola, located almost 1,000 kilometres northwest of Vancouver. It was taken in 1913 and became part of the museum's collection. Representatives of the Nuxalk Nation said at the time that they had been trying to get the totem and other artifacts back since 2019. Also in 2023, a memorial totem pole belonging to members of the Nisga'a Nation was returned from the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, where it has been for nearly a century. Last year, the Heiltsuk Nation celebrated the return of a chief's seat that had been in the Royal BC Museum since 1911. Fox said an accreditation program for institutions that hold First Nations' remains and belongings could teach about repatriation and the practices and protocols needed. 'There's not a lot of formal training for folks who are doing the work, so it makes sense for those who are experts to have an arena, to share that,' she said. She said there is still work to be done, but over the last few decades more institutions are recognizing the 'moral and ethical imperative to make things right. That these belongings and ancestors were stolen or taken under duress from First Nations communities, and that the right thing to do is to facilitate their return.' 'At the same time, First Nations repatriation experts are training the next generations within their communities, and they're building relationships with institutions. And so we are seeing some significant movement and recognition that this is the right thing to do,' she said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2025. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Hamilton Spectator
2 days ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Point Park returned to Northern Ontario First Nations after 27 year-long struggle
The smell of walleye and the sound of live music wafted through Point Park on Indigenous Peoples Day. Under the 30C sun, dozens of children ran between the beach and inflatable, bouncy castles. Susan Councillor took in the ruckus under a lone tree at the edge of the park. Across the mouth of Rainy River to her right, you could see International Falls, Minnesota. To her left, Couchiching First Nation was visible on the southern shore of Rainy Lake. And behind her, the highway met the Town of Fort Frances. All of this action right in the middle felt to her like the good old days. 'This is awesome. We haven't had something like this anywhere, (a place) to sit and enjoy music and visit with people. There used to be pow wows here, there used to be fairgrounds. There used to be baseball,' she said. 'It's such a beautiful piece of land but it wasn't being utilized for anything. When the organizers planned this, they didn't know about the verdict that came out on Wednesday. It just fell into place.' She was referring to a June 17 summary ruling 27 years in the making, which returns this sliver of land known as Point Park to the nearby Couchiching, Mitaanjigamiing, Naicatchewenin, and Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nations, collectively known as Agency One. A contested history The Point where Rainy Lake meets Rainy River has always been a landing point for trade between First Nations. Between 1871 and 1888, it was also home to Robert J.N. Pither, the Indian agent for Couchiching and one of two commissioners who signed Treaty 3 in 1873. The other commissioner of the agreement with 28 First Nations that covers a 55,000-square-mile area in northwestern Ontario and southeastern Manitoba, Simon Dawson, sent a report to Canada's Governor General on Dec. 31, 1874 in which he proposed guaranteed reserves. Those included Reserve No.1, also known as the Agency One Reserve. Dawson described it as follows:'At the foot of Rainy Lake, to be laid off as nearly as may be indicated on the plan. Two chains in depth along the shore of Rainy Lake and the bank of Rainy River, to be reserved for roads, right of way to lumbermen, booms, wharves and other public purposes. 'This Indian Reserve not to be for any particular chief or band, but for the Saulteuse tribe, generally, and for the purpose of maintaining thereon an Indian Agency generally with the necessary grounds and buildings.' Settlers surveyed roads through the area in the decade that followed, incorporating the township of McIrvine in 1894. McIrvine grew into Fort Frances, which became a township in 1903. Ontario was not only eager to recognize surveyed roads and townships in the district to encourage agricultural development, but it was also embroiled in a dispute over its border with Manitoba through the late 1880s and early 1890s. Laws recognizing settler property and Indigenous land rights moved quickly and inconsistently. The residents of Fort Frances, meanwhile, extensively lobbied senior levels of government to hand over the Agency One land to them for a park. Those efforts culminated in Canada signing a 99-year lease to the town in 1908. In 1998, the four First Nations that make up Agency One filed a statement of claim against Canada for breach of fiduciary duty, alleging maladministration. They added Ontario and Fort Frances as parties in 2008. The town issued a counterclaim the following year, asserting it rightfully owned the park. Justice Fregeau agreed with Canada and Ontario in the decision, ruling that the Agency One Reserve, 'was a validly created reserve' and that Canada, 'did not intend to publicly dedicate the land' when it leased the park to Fort Frances. Fregeau then dismissed the town's claims of $50-million for breach of promise as well as its $2-million reimbursement claim for 'unjust enrichment' over the capital improvements the municipality made. 'This land was always ours' Under the tent, Nigigoonsiminikaaning Chief Terry Allan held a microphone in one hand and an eagle feather in the other as he explained the decision's meaning to the assembled crowd. 'Every elder knew, every chief knew, every community knew — this land was always ours, and it will be for thousands of years,' Allan said. 'Just try to picture yourself here thousands of years ago. Picture these drums. Those songs, these drums, they don't change. They've been here for thousands of years. The ceremonies we're going to be doing once again here on these lands, picture the kids running around, picture people fishing, picture the canoes here. Picture all those things. They're going to come back here.' As a boy, elder William Yerxa remembers running to the beach to watch those canoes make the last leg of their journey across the bay. They'd come from communities as far east as Seine River, nearly 100 kilometres away. Yerxa is a member of Little Eagle Band, a descendent of the treaty signatory to the Point. He said his elders told him that the land rightfully belonged to him, that Pither was a thief, and that one day, he'd have to talk about it.'Somebody was here before me a long time ago and they watched over the land. They cared for it. They took care of the water, they took care of the land, they took care of the animals, they took what they needed. They belonged to the land – and we are the land. That's why it matters to me,' he said, tugging at his t-shirt that read 'It's All Indian Land.' 'We won the court case. We're different. You can feel that lightness flowing within them now. That's theirs, it's ours. It's who we are.' The case has carried on for nearly the entire life of Yerxa's 34-year-old granddaughter, Cheyenne Vandermeer. Vandermeer is now the Deputy Grand Chief of Grand Council Treaty #3, the territory's traditional government. Vandermeer remembers the four communities would hold spring and fall feasts from when she was too young to understand why the chiefs were meeting under a tent in the park. Yerxa took her to where Pither and the railroad had disturbed the burial mounds of her ancestors, along the riverbanks where shards of ancient pottery are still resting in the sand between the stones. Her job in politics keeps her on the road but every day she's home, she walks to the rapids to offer tobacco. 'He always said we never gave it to them, we said they could borrow it and now it's done and it's time for them to give it back,' she recalled of her grandfather's teachings. 'I think from our side of things, we were willing to share our territory, but we never did surrender it. I think they're going to have to learn to be in relationship with the chiefs and communities, who are caretakers of this land.' A long road to decolonization The small steps Fort Frances has taken toward reconciliation are visible from this spot. The sign that read 'Pither's Point' was removed in 2014. That sign was on the off-ramp from the waterfront street that used to be called 'Colonization Drive.' In 2021, it was renamed 'Agamiing Drive,' which is Anishinaabemowin term to describe the edge of the water. But some among the settler population resisted those changes and the city's stance during the case reflected that. The municipality's mailout leaflets in the late 2010s incorrectly informed Fort Frances residents the First Nations had 'surrendered' the park. They listed a number of other First Nations lawsuits and land claims framed as encroaching on private property interests, even inferring the price of electricity could be in jeopardy. In summation, they read, 'All the Town is looking for is to preserve the Point Park and roads for everyone to use and enjoy. The town has made many attempts to settle these matters. The town's proposals to date, have been rejected, however, the Town will continue to seek solutions that will preserve the park use as it has existed for over a hundred years' (original emphasis). Fort Frances Mayor Andrew Hallikas and his council bucked eight terms of their predecessors on Monday when they voted unanimously to abandon further appeals to ownership over Point Park. Their public statement says council members 'acknowledge and regret the damage done to our relationship with Agency One,' recognizing the toll the prolonged case took on residents, staff, and members of area First Nations.'I'm very proud of this council for putting an end to what seemed to me to be endless litigation,' Hallikas said. 'I'm pleased they took a position that will allow us to move forward toward our journey to reconciliation. I really want it to be a time of healing. I want to see a rebuilding of trust and it takes time to build trust, but it's a beginning.' The first meeting between the town manager and the CEO of Agency One resulted in a commitment to joint funding for fireworks on Canada Day at Point Park. Over the four decades Couchiching First Nation Chief Richard Bruyere has been fighting this battle, he said he's watched members of his community integrate with the town's young people in sports and school. He's watched more of his community's members working in the municipality and some choosing to live there. He has watched the political needle move slowly and he's hopeful over the Fort Frances' council's promise to improve the relationship across the park that has been allowed to come between them for so long. 'There seems to be a new way of thinking,' Bruyere reflected. 'It's a beautiful spot and it's going to go on being that way. It's incumbent on us as First Nations people to keep that beauty there. I don't know if 'pristine' is the right word or not but it has to be managed properly. It's new to us, we're going to stumble along the way. Not everything's going to be helping the linking of a lot of people, but we'll get there.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
This Canada Day, taste your Canadian pride
Canada Day is coming up, and never in recent memory (or perhaps back in 1867 when the nation officially became a new federation with its own constitution) has this country seen such a massive surge in national pride. We're practically shouting it out from the rooftops and encouraging everyone to think Canadian, buy Canadian — cook Canadian. And enjoy the foods reflective of everything that is great about our country. As Canadians, we enjoy foods that pay homage to the places where we live, be it poutine in Quebec or lobster from the Atlantic provinces. There's Montreal's smoked meat, Ontario's butter tarts, Alberta's beef, and, of course, maple syrup. And let's not forget our beer! It wouldn't be Canada Day without quaffing a cold one (even a non-alcoholic one) and a barbecue. We have wheat that is one of the most coveted food products across the globe, and 80% of Canada's mustard seeds grown out west supplies to the rest of the world. Of course, the earliest cuisines can be traced to First Nations, the Indigenous along with the English, French and Scottish settlers. Research shows Canadian cuisine has historically been shaped by Indigenous influences which have remained a constant in Canada's food identity. Foods we celebrate to this day. And Canadians love to celebrate with dishes reflective of the country's great bounty — dishes like the famous French-Canadian Tourtiere pie filled with rib-hugging pork, veal and special spices, a dish that's been around since the 1600s and one of the most popular in the Canadian food repertoire. We've got an awesome selection of award-winning wines and spirits — vodka made from our icebergs, ice wines made from grapes in Southern Ontario and British Columbia — and some of the greatest, award-winning cheeses in the world. For those with a sweet tooth we have sugar pies and butter tarts and Nanaimo bars and some of Canada's most famous ice cream companies — Chapman's and Kawartha Dairy, deeply entrenched in pure Canadian products. But what exactly is Canadian cuisine? Truth be told, there really is no one food that defines the nation. This country is huge and each region has its own identity with various dishes identified with ingredients particular to that region. Throughout the decades, the cuisine has evolved and incorporated to reflect the multicultural fabric that envelops this great country, exhibiting the diversity of everyone who lives and cooks here. Every new resident from the of hundreds of countries that call Canada home has brought along customs and culinary heritage, firmly entrenching the diverse dishes into the soul of the nation. So, along with the Nanaimo bars and bacon, you'll find pierogies and beef patties and curried dishes. You'll find onion dip next to hummus, and falafel next to sandwich wraps. Pizza and veal cutlet sandwiches are firmly entrenched as the snack of choice after a late-nigh hockey game among friends. Portuguese custard tart next to a Tim Hortons maple-flavoured doughnut. There are thousands of more dishes that fall under the Canadian label. In fact, from far and wide, the multicultural mosaic of the nation has certainly inspired global flavours to infuse traditional Canadian meals. International flavours and spices, such as za'atar, turmeric and togarashi sit shoulder-to-shoulder next to salt, pepper and garlic powder. We have amazing Canadian success stories, like that of the Hadhad family, luxury chocolate makers from Syria who had to flee their home after their chocolate factory was bombed during the Syrian civil war. The Hadhads came to Canada as refugees, bringing with a wealth of chocolate knowledge, and opening up a chocolate factory to great success in their new home in Antigonish, N.S. Today, Peace by Chocolate, a name given to the company by the family to reflect their hopes for the future, is considered one of the most successful confectionary companies world-wide. There are so many other food stories like this, making one realize just how unique Canada is in the food world, and oh so flavourful. What makes us so proud to be Canadian. And something to celebrate this Canada Day.
