Conservation Status: Protected (FWCA); Threatened (SARA; COSEWIC)

Size: 91 cm (36”)

Defining feature(s): Eastern Massasaugas are stout snakes with keeled scales and dark, dorsal blotches, which often have a light boarder.  The colour is gray and the head has a distinctive dark line running from the eye to the past the jaw.  The pupils are vertical and elliptical and the tail terminates in a button (neonates) or segmented rattle.

Other features: The head has a blunt appearance and with two heat sensitive pits between the eye and nostril.

Habitat: Massasaugas prefer moist bottomlands such as bogs, fens, river meadows and coastal areas.  They are also common in rocky shield habitats in and around lakes, swamps and bogs.

Reproduction: Mating has been documented in spring and fall for this species.  Fall breeding results in delayed fertilization until the following spring.  Young are born live in late summer and range in number from 5 to 20.  The first segment of the rattle is not evident until after the neonates shed for the first time.  Subsequent segments are added each time the snake sheds.