Slithering snakes unleashed across North American roadways
No, you won’t be seeing hordes of snakes slithering their way to a town near you, but you will begin seeing a beautifully colored depiction of Manitoba’s red-sided garter snakes on a new U-Haul 26 or 14-foot U-Haul moving van in the near future.
On Sunday, May 11th at 2 p.m., the U-Haul Media and Public Relations Department, along with U-Haul Company of Central Canada, unveiled the newest SuperGraphic representing the Province of Manitoba on one of the 1,450 moving vans adorned with this image. The event took place at the Narcisse Snake Dens, just outside the rural community of Narcisse, north of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Marketing Company President (MCP) Real Faucher addressed the crowd and presented plaques to many local dignitaries, including James Bezan, member of Parliament for the Interlake Region; John Rudyk, assistant to Tom Nevakshonoff, member of the Legislative Assembly for the Interlake; Les Marchuk, reeve (mayor) of the rural municipality of Armstrong; Ralph Hazelton, councillor for the rural municipality of Armstrong; Jack Dubois, director of the Wildlife and Ecosystem Protection Branch of Manitoba; Gail McDonald, coordinator for the Interlake Tourism Branch; Dave Roberts, Manitoba Conservation, and Dr. Robert Mason, professor of zoology at Oregon State University. More than 1,000 people visited the snake dens that day, including more than 50 System members from the U-Haul Company of Central Canada, and every person received a commemorative Manitoba SuperGraphic T-shirt along with a press kit full of information on the snake dens and U-Haul.
U-Haul chose the red-sided garter snakes of Narcisse to represent Manitoba because of the still-unsolved mysteries surrounding these reptiles as well as the awe-inspiring natural wonder of the dens. Each April through May, the Interlake region of Manitoba is home to the spectacular mating and feeding rituals of up to 150,000 red-sided garter snakes, creating the world’s largest concentration of vertebrate species as well as one of the region’s largest tourist attractions.
To learn more about the red-sided garter snakes of Manitoba, please visit uhaul.com/supergraphics.
Two red-sided garter snakes eyeing the camera.
Dave Roberts, Manitoba Conservation, addresses the crowd at the start of the ceremony.
The dignitaries and crowd listen as Jack Dubois, director of Manitoba Wildlife and Ecosystem Protection Branch, talks about the partnership between U-Haul and Manitoba Conservation.
James Bezan, member of Parliament, and Real Faucher, MCP Co. 827, address onlookers.
Moments after unveiling the official Manitoba SuperGraphic.
Jack Dubois, director of Manitoba Wildlife and Ecosystem Protection Branch, signs the commemorative SuperGraphic truck.
Dr. Robert Mason, Jack Dubois, John Rudyk, James Bezan, Ralph Hazelton, Gail McDonald, Real Faucher, Paul Hancock and Dave Roberts pose in front of the commemorative SuperGraphic truck.
Red-sided garter snakes slithering throughout the den.
Red-sided garter snakes creating a mating ball after exiting the den.