Don't be ((afraid)) of Ontario's one venomous snake

[Glenn MacGrady]

There are those who are righteously afraid of or disgusted by everything in the animal kingdom except for dogs and a few homo sapiens. Everyone else need not fear Ontario's one venomous snake—the massasauga rattlesnake—so "experts" and government bureaucrats say.

"In the 1960s, when hippies were singing about free love and protesting the seal hunt, Ontario’s provincial park officials were clubbing massasauga rattlesnakes to death. But today, Kenton Otterbein, the head naturalist at Killbear Provincial Park, says campers are learning to live peacefully with Ontario’s only venomous snake, a species he describes as 'darn cute.'"

"Most people wouldn’t think of massasauga rattlesnakes as cute. But then, most people don’t know much about them. They are less than three feet long with a dark and light blotchy pattern."

". . . persecution by humans has relegated massasauga rattlesnakes to only a few pockets of habitat in Ontario, the most notable being the eastern shore of Georgian Bay."

"Seven people were bitten by massasauga rattlers in Ontario last year."

"Most human rattlesnake bites are associated with the consumption of alcohol (by the human, not the snake)."

Rehabilitating the Rattler

In the 1960s, when hippies were singing about free love and protesting the seal hunt, Ontario’s provincial park officials were clubbing massasauga

paddlingmag.com

Offhand, when on canoe trips, I can't readily think of anything beneficial done for me by snakes or any member of the entire class of insects. Birds are okay. Mammals are rarely seen; and of those that are, most are pestiferous or scary, while others are interesting. I don't fish or eat them, so all the clades of fishes are irrelevant to me.

While canoe camping, I've only seen two rattlers up close and threatening, none in Ontario. I liked the headless one better, and thanked the old guy with a machete. Now, I'm the old guy . . . with four machetes.

 

[Gamma1214]

"Most human rattlesnake bites are associated with the consumption of alcohol (by the human, not the snake)."

Good thing because I don't carry enough for both of us.

I've never worried too much about snakes, particularly the rattlers. They're rattling to let you know they're there & he already knows that he can't eat you... as long as you don't step on him, you just need to move away.

 

[jdeerfoot]

We have encountered these snakes several times in Killarney PP, especially on the rocky shore of Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. They are not threatening and easily run off. The park has posted signs about them and asking visitors not to bother them.

 

[Jmharrick]

I have seen at least one of these snakes every time I have been to the Georgian Bay since I was 7 years old (15+ trips). The problem with these little guys is they like to hang out in blue berry patches and then sun themselves on the rocks covered in dark circular patterned lichen. They can be hard to separate from the lichen unless you are really looking for them.

Their rattles aren’t nearly as loud as their larger southern cousins, and I’ve encountered some that make more of a clicking sound than a true rattle. I think I made a post about this before (and I’ll try to dig it up) but a few years ago I had a massasauga that I didn’t see strike at me and it hit the side of my Chaco sandal leaving two perfect puncture marks. I wore boots the rest of that trip.

 

[Jmharrick]

Post in thread 'Snake infested water bodies'
https://www.canoetripping.net/threads/snake-infested-water-bodies.129538/post-166789

Found it.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I remember that post @Jmharrick.

Rattlesnakes should be afraid of me....very, very afraid. Or else...
As long as we have that understanding, we're good

 

[scoutergriz]

just remember people that Massasauga Rattlers are critically endangered in Canada and killing one can have massive repercussions- "Killing a Massasauga rattlesnake in Ontario can result in a fine of up to $250,000 or a prison sentence of up to five years, as this species is protected under the Species at Risk Act."
killing one also can carry a lifetime ban on admittance to Canada because they're protected under the federal "species at risk" laws and Endangered Species Act
I've run into a few and in every case they rattled, then slunk away

 

[LanceR]

Here in my corner of North Carolina we have Copperheads in abundance and the occasional Timber Rattler. Around the yard, which is a cleared two acre space amongst woods, I usually ignore the copperheads although I do occasionally give a persistent or aggressive one a ride down the road to a more remote forested area rather than knocking it on the head. I don't discuss them much as if my wife ever sees one she'll want to sell the place and move to the arctic where there should be less snakes. And I am sure not telling her about the copperhead I took out from under my big rolling tool chest set in the garage a year or two ago. She was freaked out enough when she left for her 11-7 third shift nursing job and, as she walked into the garage and the motion detector switched the lights on she had a big Eastern Hognose snake scoot under the welding table when she startled it.

Elsewhere when we travel in NC we also have to deal with Pygmy Rattlesnakes, Coral Snakes and Mike Mc Rae's favorite, the Cottonmouths.

A couple of local beauties doing their nest to try and be inconspicuous.....

 

[Steve in Idaho]

just remember people that Massasauga Rattlers are critically endangered in Canada and killing one can have massive repercussions- "Killing a Massasauga rattlesnake in Ontario can result in a fine of up to $250,000 or a prison sentence of up to five years, as this species is protected under the Species at Risk Act."
killing one also can carry a lifetime ban on admittance to Canada because they're protected under the federal "species at risk" laws and Endangered Species Act
I've run into a few and in every case they rattled, then slunk away

Is it okay if I just haze them then? Make scary faces and insult their mothers? (needs a )

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I do occasionally give a persistent or aggressive one a ride down the road to a more remote forested area rather than knocking it on the head.

I figured out I had to relocate my snakes pretty far to keep them from coming back. Had one uniquely deformed that kept reappearing until I delivered it to the refuge five miles away.