The Rattlesnakes 



Specimens of the length of a yard are not rare. Occasional 

 specimens will measure three and a half feet. 



Distribution. Until a comparatively recent date, the Mas- 

 sasauga extended its range eastward as far as western New York, 

 but it has been noted that this snake rapidly disappears with the 

 cultivation of land for agricultural purposes. It now occurs 

 from Ohio to central Nebraska, its southern limit in the eastern 

 portion of the range being apparently above Indianapolis, thence 

 to the west the range slopes downward into Kansas; further 

 in the Southwest, the typical form is replaced by a distinct variety 

 Edward's Massasauga. The Massasauga ranges well into 

 the north. It occurs in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. 

 It occurs in several portions of Canada, being recorded from the 

 shores of Lake Huron and on the peninsula of Ontario. 



Habits. The Massasauga is more essentially a Rattlesnake 

 than the diminutive species of Sistrurus previously described. 

 Its rattle sounds a fairly loud note of warning, and the noise 

 made by a fair-sized specimen would readily attract a man's 

 attention. The bite of an adult, if properly delivered both 

 fangs thoroughly perforating the flesh might readily produce 

 the death of a man. 



The Massasauga is a snake of swampy situations. Its 

 habits, and those of the allied southeastern species, more nearly 

 relate to the copperhead snake and the water moccasin, than 

 to the species of the large Rattlesnake genus; for Rattlesnakes 

 generally eat nothing but warm-blooded prey mammals and 

 birds while the Pigmy Rattlesnakes feed largely upon frogs. 

 These omnivorous habits, so like the feeding of those Pit Vipers 

 without rattles, must be compared with the close structural 

 relationship of the moccasin and copperhead snake and the snakes 

 of Sistrurus; all have large shields, covering the head. 



Most of the writer's specimens of the Massasauga were re- 

 ceived from Michigan and the collector explains that they fre- 

 quent a considerable area of swampy land. He goes on to say 

 that they are occasionally found in the neighbouring farming 

 country, but their presence in the drier area seems to indicate 

 a wandering from one swamp to another. Of this lot of spec- 

 imens, the snake having the biggest rattle possessed seven seg- 

 ments. The longest rattle of this species examined, consisted 

 of eight joints. As captives the specimens soon became tame 



437 



