Going on a snake hunt: Ohio conservationists work to restore native rattlesnake population

Today from the Ohio Newsroom, reviving an endangered rattlesnake. Support comes from the James at Ohio State, cancer. For some, it's one of life's fiercest foes, but not at the James, where a team of nearly 300 specialists and over 1,500 researchers are working together to create a cancer-free world. I'm Erin Gotzacker. The population of the endangered eastern Massasaga rattlesnake native to Ohio has been declining for decades. But over the last few years, a team of researchers has been working on efforts to boost the species. For the Ohio Newsroom, WOSU's Tyler Thompson has more. If I could just do Cedar bog mass sagas. Oh, really? Yep. I love it. Huh. I just take a stool in the morning and look for snakes. Ohio State conservationists and researchers Greg Lips and Marnie Behan are waiting through long prairie grass and thick mud at Cedar bog Nature Preserve in Champaign County. The Ohio State conservationists are hoping to find eastern Massasaga rattlesnakes. In 2024, the researchers relocated six pregnant Massasagas who gave birth to 58 new snakes. Then, in 2025, three pregnant eastern massasagas were moved to the site and produced 23 babies. Today, the team is hunting. to find those grown snakes. Also known as the swamp radler, the mild-mannered rattlesnake is known for its triangular wedge-shaped head and thick, earth-colored body ending in a grooved rattle. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources listed the rattlesnake as an endangered species in 1996. Since then, they've lost more of their natural habitat and numbers have declined. Greg Lips, who also does research for the Columbus Zoo, says the snakes need suitable habitat to thrive. you can improve your odds of encountering snakes as by using artificial cover objects which in this case are nothing more than pieces of old barn roofing material snakes like to get under them Warm up. The nature preserves variety of prey, along with plenty of natural ground cover to avoid predators and open space to warm up from sunbathing has made it ideal for Massasagas. Since 2024, the team of researchers have moved pregnant massas sagas from Kildare Plains Nature Preserve to the sustaining habitat at Cedar Bog. The pregnant snakes are placed in enclosures where they will then give live birth. Marnie Behan explains. We'll place them in here. They'll have their babies. We'll process them. Give them a couple of days to acclimate and then we'll open the door and they'll leave as they please. We'll have a little tripod set up here so we can catch them leaving and see how long it takes them to actually leave the bin and everything. By allowing birth in a native environment, newborn snakes can spend time with their mother and siblings for a better chance of survival. They then venture out from a fenced-in enclosure through four modified buckets outfitted with trail cameras. OSU researcher Jennifer Myers has been using this bucket technique to track the snake's movement. I think I've personally looked at more pictures of the inside of buckets than anyone on Earth. Millions probably at this point. Beyond millions, right. So, so many. Today's search ends with no Massa Saga sightings. To the team, it has become increasingly obvious over time that the snakes are in non-surveyed parts of the preserve. The animals set the schedule for you. It took me a long time to stop apologizing for it when we'd be out and not find what we're looking for.

But all is not lost. A few days before, Lips received a text message from another researcher at the preserve. He had captured a female Massa Saga that he determined was from their first batch of relocated snakes in 2024. Lips pulled out his baby book of all their newborn snakes showing her growth. Seeing that not only are we finding some, but we're finding some that have made it through one winter, two winters. We're seeing them grow a lot. We're seeing them act like normal snakes. Those are all things that are so promising. It's not the only promising sign. Earlier this week, a transferred pregnant snake gave birth to a strong batch of newborns to populate the preserve. For the Ohio Newsroom, I'm Tyler Thompson. Support comes from the James at Ohio State, cancer. For some, it's one of life's fiercest foes, but not at the James, where a team of nearly 300 specialists and over 1,500 researchers are working together to create a cancer-free world. That's all today from the Ohio Newsroom. We'll talk with you on Monday.