Endangered rattlesnakes found in Iowa

The Des Moines Register

Two endangered snakes were spotted slithering in Iowa this year, prompting excitement among conservationists, according to The Nature Conservancy in Iowa.

For the first time in 15 years, the group confirmed a Massasauga Rattlesnake in the Lower Cedar Valley Preserve in Muscatine. The species can grow up to 30 inches long and is grayish with dark bands or blotches down its back. It also has cat-like pupils, its head is shaped like a spade and it has a little rattle at the end of it's tail.

According to IowaHerps.com, Prairie Rattlesnakes are tan, brown, or greenish in color, with darker brown blotches along the back. The blotches may become lighter in color and become bands near the tail, which has a light colored rattle on the end. The eyes have elliptical, cat-like pupils. The head is shaped like a spade, and has two light lines on each side. One of these lines starts behind the eye, and continues back to the neck. The other starts in front of the eye, and extends down and along the upper lip.

These snakes, also known as “swamp rattlers” have become increasingly rare. There were concerns about the survival of the snakes, due to heavy flooding in the area the last two years, said Shelly Hiemer, spokeswoman for The Nature Conservancy.

The other endangered snake that was spotted this year was a Prairie Rattlesnake, which is one of three venomous snakes in Iowa. It was found in the Broken Kettle Grassland Preserve near Sioux City and good news — she was pregnant with eight eggs, according to the conservancy.

The snakes will be born live around mid-August to mid-September. Newborn snakes can be up to a foot long and are born with functional fangs and venom even more concentrated than their mothers, according to the conservancy.

Prairie Rattlesnakes are tan, brown or greenish and they can grow up to 45 inches with darker-brown blotches along their backs. The snake has a light-colored rattle at the end and two light lines on each side of its head.

According to IowaHerps.com, Massasauga Rattlesnakes are gray or grayish-brown with dark bands or blotches down the back. Blotches on the back become bands near the tail, which is tipped by a small rattle. The eyes have vertical, cat-like pupils and the head is shaped like a spade, though it is not as wide as the heads of other rattlesnakes in Iowa., according to The Nature Conservancy.

For the conservancy, the sightings of the endangered snakes means their habitats are survivable. Now, the organization will take extra care to preserve the areas they sighted the snakes, since the animals will return to those spots.

"When we see the resurgence of a threatened species like this, that means the habitat is being restored to what it once was naturally years ago," Hiemer said. "They were very, very excited to be able to find them."