Massasauga rattlesnake. Photo: Mike Kent
What is the Ojibway Prairie Reptile Recovery Program? The Ojibway Prairie Complex and Greater Park Ecosystem (OPCGPE) in Ontario’s Windsor-LaSalle region is home to several reptile species threatened by urban development, habitat fragmentation and road mortality, including eastern foxsnakes, Butler’s gartersnakes, Blanding’s turtles and a critically endangered population of massasauga rattlesnakes. The Ojibway Prairie Reptile Recovery Team (OPRREC) works to protect, recover and monitor these species.
When WPC began working with massasauga rattlesnakes in the Ojibway Prairie in southwestern Ontario, field teams were spotting them in the wild. However, not a single massasauga has been seen since 2019, suggesting they may have become locally extinct and now require reintroductions to bring them back – work which we are well prepared to begin.
Reintroductions of temperate snakes are very challenging due to high rates of post-release dispersal and mortality. Snakes in northern climates use animal burrows to overwinter in (hibernacula). In addition to identifying natural hibernacula, WPC has been experimenting with artificial designs. Pioneering with eastern gartersnakes in 2019, the team carried out the first successful overwintering of 12 massasaugas, all of which survived in good health and were returned to the conservation population in spring.
The team continues to mitigate the threats to the original population, through habitat enhancements in a combined area of over 10 hectares, involving garbage removal (1,500kg removed in 2021), controlling invasive plant species like phragmites, and creating beneficial woody debris features that snakes require for cover. Creating safe habitat for massasaugas means a haven for other species. In 2021 we had 161 observations of at-risk reptiles, and almost 3,000 observations of other endangered plants, birds, and insects. Habitat restoration will benefit these species as well.
“2021 was an exciting year for massasauga recovery at Ojibway Prairie. Most importantly, we “graduated” from eastern gartersnakes and completed a very successful overwinter test of our planned release sites using 12 massasaugas!”
Jonathan Choquette
WPC Lead Biologist
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