
Photo credit:
Joshua Jones
Common name
Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake
Scientific name
Sistrurus catenatus
Conservation Status
Threatened
Federal and State Protections
Federal protection through endangered species act. Protection through the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk in Canada. State protections include forbidding the collection and killing of this species and minimizing loss and degradation of their habitats due to agriculture, dredging, and stream channelization.
New York Status: Endangered
Illinois Status: Endangered
Iowa Status: Endangered
Missouri Status: Endangered; Species of Conservation Concern
Wisconsin Status: Endangered
Indiana Status: Endangered
Michigan Status: Species of Concern
Ohio Status: Endangered
Pennsylvania Status: Endangered
Minnesota Status: Endangered
Ontario Status: Threatened (Great Lakes - St. Lawrence population); Endangered (Carolinian population).
Countries of Occurrence
United States of America and Canada
States or Providence
New York, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Ontario
Counties
New York: Onondaga and Genesee.
Illinois: Madison, Fayette, Clinton, Piatt, Warren, Knox, DuPage, Lake, Cook, and Will.
Iowa: Pottawattamie, Chickasaw, Bremer, Black Hawk, Buchanan, Clinton, Scott, Muscatine, and Louisa.
Missouri: Chariton, Lynn, Livingston, and Holt.
Wisconsin: Pipin, Buffalo, Trempealeau, Jackson, Clark, Wood, Portage, La Crosse, Monroe, Juneau, Adams, Saulk, Green Lake Columbia, Crawford, Madison/Dane, Green, Rock, Walworth, and Kenosha.
Indiana: Lake, Porter, La Porte, St. Joseph, Elkhart, Lagrange, Steuben, Jasper, Starke, Pulaski, Marshall, Fulton, Kosciusko, Walbash, Noble, Whitley, Allen, Wells, Cass, Carroll, Fountain, Montgomery, Hendricks, Hamilton, Delaware.
Michigan: Oakland, Livingston,
Jackson, Washtenaw, Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo and Van
Buren, Alcona, Alpena, Crawford, Kalkaska, Montmorency, and Presque Isle.
Ohio: Ashtabula, Trumbull, Erie, Wayne, Wyandot, Licking, Fairfield, Champaign, Clark, Greene, Montgomery, and Warren.
Pennsylvania: Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Crawford, Lawrence, Mercer and Venango.
Minnesota: Goodhue, Wabasha, Winona, and Houston.
Ontario: Eastern shore of Georgian Bay, the northern Bruce Peninsula, Niagara Peninsula, and near the city of Windsor.
Adult size
47-100 cm
18.5-39.37 in
Average: 61 cm; 2 feet
Species Description
This small rattlesnake can be found in the Midwestern and Northern United States and Ontario. They live in shallow wetlands and adjacent uplands. This rattlesnake usually gives live birth to 5 to 20 young at a time annually to biennually, and they primarily feed on small mammals.
Fact: This is one of two federally threatened species of rattlesnake in the United States. The population of the Eastern massasauga is still in decline primarily due to habitat loss. Fragmentation of habitat due to roads, farmland, and urban sprawl is a large factor in habitat decline. Conservation of rattlesnakes is important to prevent further population decline. This is something we are helping to slow and reverse!