Catherine Rusoff
An annual survey of snakes in Ohio revealed an unexpected discovery — an eastern Massasauga rattlesnake, an “increasingly rare” snake in the state that is considered endangered.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said one of its officers in Huron County encountered the rattlesnake in May. Authorities captured the snake, recorded its measurements and then returned it to the wild.
Ohio Department of Natural Resources/Facebook
Eastern Massasaugas they are “small snakes with thick bodies, heart-shaped heads and vertical pupils,” according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They only grow to about 2 feet long and have gray or light brown skin with “chocolate brown spots on their backs.” Those considered melanistic appear all black. They have been found in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
They have also been found in more than 30 Ohio counties, but according to Ohio State University, Massasaugas “have become increasingly rare“—both statewide and in their range as a whole. They have only been seen in nine counties since 1976. Extensive agriculture has significantly reduced their populations in the state, although many of their colonies continue to exist in swamps, marshes, and wet prairies , according to the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s reptile field guide.
US Fish and Wildlife Service
Also known as “swamp rattlesnakes” or “black snappers,” Massasaugas are not the most active snakes. According to the Division of Wildlife, they are typically “very slow and make little or no attempt to bite unless fully provoked.” Their diet consists mainly of small rodents, but they also eat frogs and other snakes.
And that’s a good thing, since its venom “is highly toxic,” the division said. A typical Massasauga bite does not release a high enough amount of venom to be fatal to healthy adults, but authorities warned that “this is still a venomous snake… and should be treated with extreme caution and respect.”
The species is considered threatened under the Endangered Species Act, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and is one of only three venomous snake species in Ohio.
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