E massassauga

[Jaeda]

Hi Danielle,

Thanks for posting the link to the article on my site. We just did a major overhaul yesterday and some of the links have moved. The link for the E. massasauga has moved to http://www.outdooradventurecanada.co...hings-v1-4.htm

Sorry for any incovenience this may have caused.

[Jeff Hathaway]

Actually, we have two CBB specimens in our collection (yes, with appropriate paperwork, sigh).

Around the 'Lake Erie area' (which encompasses an awful lot of land!) there are a few pockets. In Ontario, these are Wainfleet Bog Nature Reserve near Port Colburne, and Ojibway Prairie Nature Reserve (and adjoining areas like LaSalle Woods). Not sure of populations in the Lake Erie drainage of MI, OH, and PA, but I believe they are quite restricted. Keep in mind that most range maps in books are very optimistic and/or generalized, and they often show 'historic' ranges rather than the limited patches that are found today for many species.

There aren't many camping opportunities within the 2 Lake Erie pop's in Ontario. Camping in nature reserves is not allowed. Even in the Georgian Bay area, where rattlesnake numbers range from scarce to locally common, and hundreds of thousands of people go camping annually, bites are incredibly rare (avg. 4 per year) and deaths are stunningly few- 2 in total, last one 40 years ago!

Worry about your beesting allergy- not rattlesnake bites!

Having said that, don't be foolish and try picking them up, and if you're camping in areas where they are, wear decent footwear if you're not ON the beach. You pretty much have to step on them or pick them up to get bitten. I've even met people who stepped on them in barefeet and didn't get bitten!

All hospitals in the regions where they occur carry antivenin, but the best advice is to go to Parry Sound if at all possible as they have the most experience with treating bites. Out of curiosity, I called several hospitals a few years ago on the fringes of 'rattlesnake territory' (not Parry Sound) and couldn't even track down anyone who had ever been involved in the treatment of a bite.

Now if you want to camp in a great area of Lake Erie, and see hundreds of snakes, consider coming on our Pelee Island trip in May!

Jeff Hathaway
Sciensational Sssnakes!!

[Jeff Hathaway]

BTW, the one in the visitor's centre at Killbear for the last 2 summers has been ours:-) If you see one with the Georgian Bay Reptile Awareness Program (a great program, BTW), it's probably also ours! They get around quite a bit:-)

Jeff Hathaway
Sciensational Sssnakes!!

[JonD]

Originally posted by Jeff Hathaway
BTW, the one in the visitor's centre at Killbear for the last 2 summers has been ours:-) If you see one with the Georgian Bay Reptile Awareness Program (a great program, BTW), it's probably also ours! They get around quite a bit:-)

Jeff Hathaway
Sciensational Sssnakes!!

That's cool Jeff! funny, the girl I was talking to at the visitor center in Killbear said they catch and release one every year for display lol

[Jeff Hathaway]

Doh! The whole idea of them using ours is to get away from the catch/release method (and its inherent problems) and to promote the idea that 'catching' them isn't a good thing! Was that last summer she said that?

It's true they used to catch wild specimens for the park display. Some parks still do with other species. Not that I'm bitter, but it's a bit of a bone of contention with me that parks are allowed to do this without specific authorization but other non-MNR programs require permits, and all too often are refused them! Not to mention the obvious detriment to the wild specimens, and the benefits of using captive specimens!

Besides Killbear, Earl Rowe, Bon Echo, Murphy's Point and Rondeau have all rented specimens from us for their visitor's centres in the past.

Jeff Hathaway
Sciensational Sssnakes!!

[JonD]

Jeff, that was two summers ago now...Yeah I was kinda suprised that they would catch one and release it at the end of the season. Just kinda seems irresponsible for a provincial park, never mind the big yellow signs"brake for snakes"....