How a tiny, endangered rattlesnake is being helped by private landowners in PA

[bcr229]

https://www.post-gazette.com/life/ou...s/202508040050

How a tiny, endangered rattlesnake is being helped by private landowners in PA

Conservation efforts find the rattlesnake stable in Butler and Venango counties, while surveys continue in Mercer

While most people would decline to encourage “danger noodles” or “nope ropes” on their property, some landowners in Venango County have agreed to create enticing habitats for the state-endangered Eastern massasauga rattlesnake.
Persuading those landowners is among the latest efforts to stabilize dwindling populations of the smallest and shyest venomous snake in Pennsylvania.
“We tell these landowners about the plight of the snakes and what’s going on with their habitat getting overgrown,” said Ryan Miller, senior zoologist with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.
“We can find funding from the state or federal government [the snake is federally threatened] or private donors and get the work done to restore the habitat.
“The folks I know assume their presence, have respect and coexist with them quite well.”
Most people have not seen a massasauga and never will.
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy recently shone a light on the latest conservation efforts in a webinar on the nonprofit’s 25 years of studying the snake’s population.
The conservancy’s massasauga work progressed from surveying to gauge the number remaining in accessible areas, to employing telemetry studies to gain a deeper understanding of its habitat use, and, ultimately, to managing the habitats.
“At this point, we are just trying to keep them comfortable to keep those last four sites open and available,” Mr. Miller said.


Could there be more massasaugas out there?

Also known as the marsh rattler, this snake was confined to a small portion of the western part of the state, from northern Allegheny County to Crawford County, more than a century ago.
Currently, there are only four documented areas of massasauga in three counties, Butler, Venango and Mercer, according to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, which manages the species.
The Mercer site is currently under study by the commission, said Chris Urban, chief of the agency’s Natural Diversity Section.
Although the populations in Butler and Venango counties are stable, threats and concerns are always there, he said.
Small pockets of the snakes not detected or reported could still be out there, both men said.
The massasauga is easily confused with juvenile rat snakes as well as Eastern milk and Northern water snakes, they added.
Sportspeople and nature watchers do come across the elusive rattlesnake occasionally; many are protective of the vulnerable species and often do not publicly share details of their sightings.
The massasauga is a target for poachers, even though they are a protected species.
Among conservationists, the snake is valued for eating rodents, including mice that carry Lyme disease. The species could have medicinal purposes for its venom as well: Heart medications were developed from the venom of the massasauga’s cousin, the pygmy rattlesnake.
The massasauga is a specialist requiring marshy meadows and fields as well as hibernation sites along streams and in wetlands. It is no small wonder that the snake is so rare.
Add to that its small size, averaging 2 feet, and its shy and retiring nature, and the snake is not easy to see — even by professionals like Mr. Miller, who has been studying them for 20 years for the conservancy.
“They are extremely reclusive and well hidden,” he said.
“A massasauga can be right next to you and you’d never know it. It crosses my mind when I’m doing a survey, ‘How many did I walk past today that I didn’t observe?’”
That’s because the snake’s tan and brown blotchy pattern serves as camouflage, its primary defense, like many other snake species. Additionally, you might not hear it. The massasauga’s small rattle sounds like a buzzing insect and is only audible within 5 feet.
When approached, the snake will freeze and not rattle, generally, Mr. Miller said.
The massasauga (a Chippewa term meaning great river mouth) hibernates in crayfish burrows and other cavities below the frost line, and spends its spring through fall in wet fields, marshes and open grassy areas — not exactly tourist attractions.
The conservancy, the Fish and Boat Commission and other groups do not disclose the exact locations of the snakes. The exception is Jennings Environmental Education Center and nature reserve in Brady Township, Butler County, which touts its rare prairie ecosystem and its famous residents: the native blazing star flower and the massasauga.
Living and not living with rattlesnakes

In past decades, wetlands, meadows and fields — prime massasauga territories — were filled in and paved over by development and highways.
The snake once lived in northern Allegheny County near the Butler County line in the Cranberry area but was pushed out by development beginning in the early 1900s.
Highway construction in the Cranberry area, including the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Routes 19 and 228, overtook a significant marsh rattler site, according to field work by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Mr. Miller said.
Cranberry is so named because of the once bountiful wild cranberries that grew in the formerly marshy area.
In recent years, conservancy biologists noticed a trend in massasauga sites “disappearing” because of woody vegetation succession, development, resource exploration and acid mine drainage, Mr. Miller said.
The snakes — especially pregnant females — need open land to bask.
Recent preservation efforts focus on buying small land parcels close to existing massasauga populations and helping property owners manage their land for the snakes.
That’s where Amish tree-cutters and brush hogs come in.
The conservancy has led efforts to clear trees and woody vegetation in the snake’s territory in Venango County, where the snakes live on private property.
“The Amish horse and wagon method [of clearing vegetation] works best because it is known for having less impact on the soils as the snakes hibernate,” Mr. Miller said.
During surveys more than a decade ago in the county, Conservancy biologists implanted small transmitters for a telemetry study to learn how the snakes moved around the landscape.
The researchers worked with landowners who helped with the research.
“They would help and go out in the field with us and help us check up on the snakes every other day. By doing this, they got an understanding of how the snakes act, what they need and why they are so rare.”
They discovered the snakes have a 3.8-acre range, and that neonates (young massasaugas) disperse in a shotgun pattern. But come fall, those young return to their birth site to hibernate, following the scent of their mother.
Mr. Miller worked with one homeowner who had several massasauga sunning in a garden. “After clearing more suitable land adjacent to the garden, to my knowledge, they are not in the garden anymore.”
Most of the landowners went on to work with government and foundation-funded programs for property easements and for help with maintenance. The field habitat required for the massasauga is also desirable for game birds, and that appealed to at least one landowner who is a hunter, Mr. Miller said.
“The truth is, property owners don’t see the snakes often, but they assume their presence in the brush.”
The snakes are most visible during mating season, when males might be seen crossing a lawn looking for females, he said.
Jennings Environmental Education Center, operated by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources next door to Moraine State Park, has been maintaining its prairie habitat for years with controlled burns and other efforts to maintain the rare environment, which benefits the resident massasaugas.
The snakes are doing well with more than 100 individuals, said Wil Taylor, manager of the education center.
In the last decade, the center added about 20 acres of habitat by cutting down trees and clearing brush, which the snakes have taken to.
“The massasauga is no secret here. We embrace the snakes. We have exhibits and signs to tell the public about them.”
The preserve offers closely shorn and wide trails for good ground visibility for visitors.
Attracting about 120,000 visitors a year, many come hoping to see the snake, Mr. Taylor said.
“They are hard to see, rarely seen and it’s a big deal when the public gets to see one.”
First Published: August 9, 2025

[Bogertophis]

I'm so glad to know they're really trying to protect & save these.