The eastern massasauga rattlesnake is the only native venomous snake in Michigan — but the state Department of Natural Resources says it has not killed anybody here in over a century.
One did, however, bite a man trying to take its photo last month in Oakland County, which resulted in a hospital stay for him, and an uptick of residents searching for the snakes.
Now, the DNR is asking the public to stop harassing the threatened snakes.
Amy Bleisch is an endangered species biologist at the DNR. She said the media attention from the bite has spurred snake enthusiasts to go looking for the species, but not everybody seeking the snake is doing so with good intentions.
“We’ve had some folks tell us that if they ever saw one, they would kill it,” she said. “That is not only illegal, but it’s also, unfortunately, a really great way to get bitten. ”
As a threatened species, killing or harassing the rattlesnakes is against the law. Those found violating the Endangered Species Act could be sentenced to up to a year in prison or could be fined $50,000.
“We’ve had this uptick in interest in eastern massasauga and we’ve been seeing some not-great behaviors from some folks,” she said.
She said some people look for these kinds of species as a hobby, called herping (derived from herpetology, the study of amphibians and reptiles), but there have been situations where habitats have been trampled and destroyed.
“They’ve also been harassing and interacting with this snake in a way that is very likely to result in another bite if you continue to get in that snake’s space,” Bleisch said.
The snake is a shy species located in Lower Peninsula wetlands, Bois Blanc, and Mackinac Island and it wants nothing to do with humans, she said. They are good at hiding, making surveys to count the species long and difficult.
Eastern massasaugas are usually tan with brown splotches that resemble a bowtie. They have rattles on their tails and can grow to be 18 to 30 inches long.
Bleisch said humans have no natural resistance to their venom.
“They get in this evolutionary arms race with their prey where they make their venom a little more potent and the prey makes its resistance a little more potent,” she said. “People are not part of that equation. We have no natural resistance to that venom and so that venom is more impactful to us.”
While the venom is impactful, it’s also not always used. In so-called dry bites, which happen 25% to 50% of the time, the snake does not deliver any venom, the DNR said.
The species is also declining in population on a global scale due to habitat destruction and poaching. Bleisch said the snakes have a rough time crossing roads and paved paths. When residents leave designated paths to go look for them, they are further degrading their habitats. She said poaching of the species is also too common.
“That poaching can be persecution when folks have chosen to kill a snake because it’s a snake,” she said. “But there’s also poaching by people who are snake enthusiasts and those folks are collecting these snakes and putting them into the illegal pet trade.”
Bleisch said people don’t realize how important the massasauga are. The snakes keep rodent populations down which in turn keeps tick populations down, and that keeps tick-caused sicknesses down.
“They’re playing a critical role in the ecosystem and our natural heritage,” she said. “Anytime you’re interacting with that snake and it feels threatened to the point where it is rattling, that is taking an energetic cost from that snake and it’s making it harder for it to continue surviving on the landscape.”
She said if people do come across the snake, they should keep their distance.
“And we definitely do not want to try to pick them up,” Bleisch said.
