# Eastern Massasauga



## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

Got some good pics and video of a Massasauga Rattler this morning......



















He put on a good show for me, then we left each other untouched and unharmed, of course.

This sighting made my day!


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## multibeard (Mar 3, 2002)

Looks like a good size one.

I have only seen one in my life. Scared me so bad when it rattled at my feet that I jumped a 10 ft. creek in a single bound. Was no reason to be scared as I had hip boots on. I could find it after i regained my senses.


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## Swamp Ghost (Feb 5, 2003)

Awesome!


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## Steve (Jan 15, 2000)

Yeah nice sized one for sure. Oakland county?


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## StumpJumper (Nov 13, 2001)

There's quite a few of them in Calhoun county too. They get bigger than that even. My ex's dad killed one in their yard that had 9 rattles if I remember correctly, it was either 8 or 9.


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## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

Multi'...youre a nut! LOL!  Are you sure you ever _did_ regain your senses?  

Steve, this snake is crawling around the NW lower.


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## Big Frank 25 (Feb 21, 2002)

http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/wildlife/pubs/massasauga_obsreport.asp


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## multibeard (Mar 3, 2002)

NC You ought to know that I never really regained my senses. Ya met me didn't you???

As you can see by my post I can't proof read my posts either. 

I never could find the thing again. Probably good thing I didn't as I would have killed it. Was legal back then.

My cousins cocker spaniel got bit on the nose. It lived but you didn't dare touch its nose after that. It would bite you, probably hurt from the nerve damage from the bite.


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## Oldgrandman (Nov 16, 2004)

Nice pics! I got a picture in my photos of one I ran into once also. Cool to see, it is quite un-nerving to have them rattling at you.


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## Salami (Dec 23, 2004)

Was it in your wood pile?


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## kroppe (May 7, 2000)

Cool pic. I'm not a snake fan under any circumstances. Especially now that I live in copperhead/moccasin/rattlesnake country, I look twice and thrice when walking in the woods. 

There are not a huge concentration of these snakes in my area, but they are not uncommon, either.


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## multibeard (Mar 3, 2002)

Salami said:


> Was it in your wood pile?


The one that got my cousins cocker was in a wood pile. He heard it yip but thought it has got to close to a chip monk and got nipped. 

He decided he better check the wood pile when the dog started acting funny a while later. That is when he found the rattler. I think his vet gave the dog a shot of anti venom.


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## Banditto (Jun 9, 2000)

I've seen a lot of massauga's and never saw one that big. That looks to be around 2' long?


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## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

Banditto, when I was looking at it...I estimated it would be about 26" if stretched out straight. From the research I did later, I found out that this would be in the normal adult size range.


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## Overdew (Sep 7, 2004)

I hope you were using the zoom on that camera. :lol: Nice photos, glad you didn't step on him.


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## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

Overdew, I had the camera about 3' from him. Snakes can only strike about 50% of their length (as I recall) so I doubled that and added a little more padding to be safe. 

I would have got a bit closer but I sensed his "comfort zone" and he would start to move off if I crossed the line. Digital zoom took care of the rest.

Not that I'm any kind of expert, but the general rule is that critters dont want any conflict. They will save their ammo for truly life-threatening defense. I am extremely comfortable when I bump into skunks, "bee's" of all sorts, Northern-Widows, etc. etc. They bump into other ciritters all the time without defending...and its no different with humans, IMHO.


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## Banditto (Jun 9, 2000)

Like I said, I've seen and caught a lot of them and never saw one that large.


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## StumpJumper (Nov 13, 2001)

The small ones are more dangerous than the large ones. They cannot control the venom flow and give you everything they got. A larger snake will give you a pre-measured dose so to speak.

That is a good size rattler but they can get a little bigger.


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## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

I played with an Eastern Hognose, tonight. All bluff and no bite


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