Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i believe it was last friday, my wife and kids and I decided to go check out a spot were we found an eastern Massasauga rattler last year.
they are extremely rare in northern Indiana.
within 30 minutes we found two adults and a yearling, the one adult was sadly killed by a car that had raced around us in a hurry for who knows what.
she was full of what would be baby massies next fall, they were orange orbs covered in tiny blood vessles.
as an educator of the public through reptile programs, it saddens me to no end to see the ignorant swerve to kill an animal (protected by state law)worth far more than, well lets leave it at that.
i will have pics soon, as i dont own a digital camera and dont want one really, i will have to wait till i develop the film and then scan them in.
Happy Hunting and God Bless
Hoosier Reptiles

Sorry to hear about the one that got run over. That's too bad. I haven't herped in Indiana for a really long time. I thought massas were pretty much all gone from your state. They are very rare in Ohio and getting there in Michigan. Glad to hear there's some left then. Must be at least a little habitat left though or you wouldn't be seeing any. In Michigan we have a few spots left where you can still find them, but they are very secretive and I don't do the kinds of studies where you use transmitters, etc. You just have to know where and how to look, or be really lucky. Usually it's the person who wants to kill them that finds them. Chances are the person who killed the snake you saw didn't know it was a rattler.

BTW, a person got prosecuted here in s. Michigan this spring for killing a massa at a Metroparks. Hope that helps people understand better the importance of these rare creatures. But most people would still rather see them gone

Looking forward to your pictures.

Terry

You are so right.
the place we have found them is a swamp with a road right through the middle of it.
we only find them while night road hunting, as i believe they live in the crayfish burrows during the day.
as stated in my first post these animals are protected by law in Indiana.
i did not even remove the dead one from the road !!!!!!!
we also found something very interesting last evening, what looks to be the shed skin of an amelanistic black rat about 20 feet up a tree, in an area where they are very common.
i say amel becouse it was clear and as a corn snake breeder it should mean that the animal who left it behind was very light in color???
what else would be so high in a tree????

Chris
Hoosier Reptiles