Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake Cameron

Photo credit: Ethan Meleg

The Massasauga rattlesnake can be 30 inches long.It is dark coloured and has a thick trianglular shaped head.It has dark stripes on the top of its head. Its body is marked along its back and sides with round dark blotches against a gray or brownish gray background.It has a rattle on the end of its tail. The word "Massasauga" comes from the Chippewa langauge meaning "great river mouth. The Massasauga rattlesnake lives in bogs, swamps and wet prairies. It likes to eat lizards,small rodents, small birds, and frogs. The Massasauga rattlesnake is poisonous (so beware!!!). It is also endangered ( oh dear!). The Massauga rattlesnake has 2-19 live young babies. They are born alive. Even though the Massasauga rattlesnake can bite humans, humans are its predator sometimes. A cool fact about the Massasauga rattlesnake is some males have a wrestling match to decide which one will mate with the female. They lift up the front of their bodies and push each other around. The Massasauga rattlesnake's nicknames are "Swamp Rattler" and "Black Snapper".

My Resources Reptiles and Amphibians- A Guide to Familiar American Species by Herbert S. Zim PhD and Horbert M. Smith PhD www.ohiohistorycentral.org/ohc/nature/animals/reptile/emrattlesnake.shtml www.pc.ge.ca/nature/eep-sar/itm3-/eep-sar3c e.asp www.oplin.org/snake/fact%20pages/rattlesnake-e-mass/rattlesnake-e-mass.html www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/reptiles/conserve.html www.rom.on.ca/ontario/risk.php?doc-type=fact&id=101 www.//jrscience.wep.muohio.edu/birds/ohio-birds/Massasauga-Rattlesnake Ang.html www.ethanmeleg.com/rattlesnake.htm