The normal habitat for massasaugas in MI (and n. OH and n. IN) is wetland or swampland. I believe they seek out open, higher ground in their wet habitat for activities, such as basking. I'm not sure if they spend the winter underground in these higher areas (or mounds), but it seems reasonable, especially if they can get down to the water level in times of deep cold. They also overwinter in crayfish burrows, other burrows, and tree root systems, etc. I believe the swamps are more open than drier forest because the water creates a % of open areas, and trees are often blown over in winter, and because of occasional flooding, etc. They are seen mostly in spring, when some are found basking on dirt roads passing through their habitat, or summer, when they are often killed by farmers cutting fields of hay near their habitat, or fall, when hunters sometimes see them basking in the swamps while bear or deer hunting. I'm trying to see how conditions are similar at the same time as being different from those in AZ.



The snake in the photo may have been a female, but I didn't palpate or check the sex. I did have the impression it was female. I don't think two yr. olds are ever gravid, however, although I haven't seen very many that age. Easterns are just heavy bodied, even as babies, and often look gravid. This snake was only 15-18 inches. Of course, I wouldn't know positively, eh? How do you palpate them anyway? I don't like to pick them up..haha, although I do use a hook occasionally to get pix.



TC

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