News

Massasauga Rattlesnakes: Good News and Bad

In the first systematic survey of local populations of the endangered eastern massasauga rattlesnake, researchers found ten snakes at one site, including two juveniles born last year, where previously only a single snake or two has been reported almost every year since 1997. Unfortunately, none of the snakes was an adult male. And another survey site has probably lost its entire population.

The eastern massasauga is listed as endangered, threatened, or rare by every state or province in its range. It has been a candidate for federal listing since 1997. In 2005, the Chicago office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources formed a team of 15 experts and stakeholders to begin concerted action to conserve the species. The team's first tasks have been to survey known populations and to develop a population viability model, which will determine the minimum size below which a population cannot recover on its own.

The team surveyed six sites in Lake, Cook, and Will County forest preserves this spring and found rattlesnakes at only one site. According to FWS herpetologist Mike Redmer, the surveyors encountered those ten snakes 40 times during their survey, making it unlikely that they missed any individuals. The secretive massasauga spends much of its time simply coiled in the grass without moving, leaving Redmer to hope that four other sites still harbor massasauga populations.

Redmer encourages people to submit photos of snakes they believe to be eastern massasaugas. He warns that people should not perturb this venomous species and should stay at least four feet away.

— Barbara Hill