Huddled up against a truck’s tailgate, conservationist Greg Lipps and research technicians Jennifer Myers and Marnie Behan mapped out their route for their hunt.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires had clouded the sun just enough to trouble the group at Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area in Champaign County. The window for the perfect amount of morning sunlight for their search was even shorter than normal.
The team had pinpointed regions of promise, donned their waterproof rubber boots, grabbed their equipment and set off into the waist-high grass. The three spread out in a line to cover more ground, using long metal hooks to move pockets of dense plants aside as they walked.
They decided on a grassy field that had plenty of possible sun exposure and plant coverage that was perfect for their goal — finding pregnant Eastern massasauga rattlesnakes.
Lipps works as a conservation biologist at the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium and is the coordinator of amphibian and reptile conservation at Ohio State University. He has been researching massasauga snakes for the last 25 years.
During the spring and early summer, pregnant massasaugas require large amounts of sun exposure to help gestate their offspring. Massasaugas are ovoviviparous, meaning females develop and hatch their eggs internally. The mothers then give birth to live snakelets, also referred to as neonates.
“We kept coming out in the morning and trying to sneak up on her. And she shot down the hole, and then one morning, I was like: ‘I'm going to take a different route.’ And I did, and there was a pile of babies. So, we missed her. She gave birth here,” Lipps said.
“I'm nervous about that happening,” Myers responded.
“It's a weird weather year,” Behan said.
The researchers want to find the females before they give birth. By obtaining the snakes, they could restore the population by relocating them to an environment that would better sustain the population.
The massasauga rattlesnake
Ohio is home to two native rattlesnakes: the timber rattlesnake and the massasauga.
Also known as the “swamp rattler,” the massasauga is known for its triangular, wedge-shaped head along a small thick earth-colored body that ends in a grooved rattle. The massasauga is a pit viper, meaning the snake can detect the infrared radiation from warm-blooded animals and ambush prey with its hollow venomous fangs.
Their venom is highly toxic, but like any venomous animal, even a honeybee, the main concern is a possible critical allergic reaction. The snake is considered to be mild-mannered and camouflages to avoid passersby.
Most people may never see a massasauga because of their reclusive lifestyle. Even researchers struggle to find the rare snake.
Massasaugas are still reported in areas of Canada and eight U.S. states. In Ohio, they were once reported to be found in 28 counties. Today, they are in as few as eight counties.
The Ohio Department of National Resources first listed the rattlesnake as an endangered species in 1996. The species was later recognized federally as threatened in 2016 under the Endangered Species Act. Habitat loss from increased development is the leading cause of declining massasauga populations.
Massasaugas are found primarily in prairie ecosystems that are ideal for a variety of prey and have plenty of natural ground cover to avoid predators and open space to sunbathe.
Researchers believe Ohio was part of the “prairie peninsula” region when the climate was hotter and drier roughly 4,000 to 8,000 years ago. They credit prairies that remain to Indigenous controlled burns centuries ago that promoted growth of grasslands. Without active management, prairies quickly revert to forests.
Lipps explained that many people don’t view the areas as nature, instead labeling the land as vacant on parcel maps. In reality, they are incredibly diverse.
Today, farmland has replaced the state’s prairies, resulting in the decline of birds, insects, amphibians and reptiles from these regions.
Without addressing the root problem of habitat loss, Lipps said animal conservation efforts are doomed to fail. However, certain protected prairies serve as hubs for conservation efforts to bolster populations.
Just slithered by
By the time the sun had almost reached midday, the search window for the massasauga had passed.
In the field, Behan stabbed the soil with a thermometer, showing off a snake tattoo on her forearm, and measured the ground’s temperature. Because of the smoke blocking the sun, the ground temperature is warmer than the air, making the best place for a snake to be underground.
It is not uncommon, Myers explained, for their search to yield no massasaugas.
One of the things Lipps stressed in wildlife biology is the animals always set the schedule.
“Somebody pointed out to me that it's not your fault and you can't control the weather and so I should stop apologizing so I did,” Lipps said. “Their first comment was: ‘Were you raised Catholic?’ I said ‘yes.’”
The following week, the team traveled to the second site of their conservation efforts to hopefully see juvenile massasaugas.
The conservation plan
Their project removes pregnant massasaugas from Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area and relocates them to Cedar Bog State Nature Preserve.
Cedar Bog serves as an ideal relocation spot since native massasaugas have been reported in the preserve. The site was selected for relocated snakes because the suitable habitat would help support and sustain the species.
The population fluctuated over the years in the preserve, with 44 adults surveyed in 2015-2017. A subsequent survey in 2020-2022 recorded only 18 adult snakes, a 58.5% decline in the population in seven years. But new efforts of converting surrounding farmland and eliminating invasive species have made the preserve a better area for the snakes to thrive.
That gave the team hope that its search would be successful.
Wading through the long prairie grass and thick mud, the team lifted large rectangular pieces of labeled sheet metal. Snakes often slither underneath the heat-conductive tin sheets to help regulate their temperatures, especially when they are pregnant.
As Lipps raised a metal sheet, he spotted something wriggling — a pregnant DeKay’s snake.
“These babies will be born just a couple of weeks before the massasauga babies are born, and these babies are a major food item. So this is a good sign,” Lipps said, snake in hand.
The hunt continued as the group arrived at a square outline of vertical metal sheets enclosing a square of unkempt land. Inside the enclosure, an artificial burrow with soil and vegetation sits ready for transported snakes. In the corners, buckets are outfitted with trail cameras to capture snakes’ movements.
The technique in Cedar Bog familiarizes newborn rattlesnakes with their environment at birth. Babies are born in the enclosed space, weighed, measured and microchipped. Researchers avoid inserting radio transmitters in the babies because that can lead to health complications.
After a few days, Lipps and his team create makeshift openings in the buckets for the snakes to come and go as they please. Their movements are then photographed as they leave.
In 2024, a total of six adult females were relocated, resulting in 58 infant snakes to bolster the population. The following year, three pregnant massasaugas were translocated and produced 23 infant snakes.
“There's not any single thing that we're doing that's novel, but putting together all of these different aspects of snake biology and translocation methods. I think this is the first time they've been put together this way,” Lipps said.
Growing research has begun to recognize snakes as social animals that have complex networks, instead of solitary animals. By allowing birth in a native environment, newborn snakes can spend time with their mother and siblings for a better chance of survival.
Empty-handed, but hopeful
Near the transport sites, mud crayfish burrows and the natural geography make for great places for the newborn snakes to brumate, a form of reptile hibernation. The babies, who are born in mid-August, only have a few months to gain weight and find shelter to not freeze to death.
Currently, the sites are empty of massasaugas since the team is preparing the space for relocated pregnant snakes from Killdeer Plains in early August. They hope to transfer at least three pregnant massasaugas to populate the preserve.
But nearby, under another piece of sheet metal, Behan spotted another snake – a pregnant Kirtland's snake. The threatened species is known for its copper red and black dotted underbelly.
While rare, still not a massasauga. Again, the day yields no massasauga sightings.
But all is not lost.
Earlier this week, the team captured three pregnant females from Killdeer Plains and relocated them Cedar Bog. Overnight, one snake gave birth to a strong batch of newborns to populate the preserve.
Another good sign, Lipps received a text message from another researcher at Cedar Bog. He had captured a female massasauga that, when scanned for a microchip, displayed an ID number — she was from their first batch of birthed snakes.
Lipps pulled out his “baby book” of all their newborn snakes, showing her growth from 12 grams to 266 grams. She had survived two winters, and could be ready for babies next year.
She is a sign the babies are surviving.
“You're really kind of at the mercy of just getting lucky and finding them during regular surveys. So seeing that, not only are we finding some, but we're finding some that have made it through one winter, two winters,” Lipps said. “We're seeing them grow a lot. We're seeing them act like normal snakes. Those are all things that are so promising.”