Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake News

Eastern-massasauga-rattlesnake

Click the link above to read about the USFWS announcement to seek protection for the E. Massasauga rattlesnake.

Click below to learn more about the rattlesnake.

E. Massasauga Fact Sheet USFWS

Matt Cross, a current PhD student in our lab, has recently published work he conducted on E. Massasauga rattlesnakes while he was at Central MI Univ. In this research he studied the affects of prescribed fires on the snake by implanting radio transmitters and searching for snake locations directly before and after a prescribed fire.  Data was taken on prescribed fire temperature and fire movement near snake locations. To see what he found you can find the article here: Prescribed fire and Massasauga paper or search for it using this citation:

• Cross, M., Root, K., Mehne, C., Mcgowan-Stinski, J., Pearsall, D., Gillingham, J. 2015. Multi-scale Responses of Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus catenatus) to Prescribed Fire. Am. Midl. Nat., 173:346-362.
  
  

Oak Openings Preserve Metropark Sign

We wanted to share with you a new sign that has been put up near the Girdham Sand Dunes at Oak Openings Preserve Metropark.  It is a wildlife crossing sign that reminds visitors to not only look out for deer, but also smaller animals that may be in the roadway.  The research we do in the Root lab on herpetofauna  helped influence the parks choice to put up the sign.

Blog 'bout Bats

For an update on bats check out these articles:
   One on the treatment that saved some sick bats:
Bacteria for WNS
One on the naturally occuring survivors:
Batty White Nose Syndrome Survivors

New students in the lab

Lauren Jonaitis is new to the lab and currently trying to develop her research topic. However, she has done independent research in Namibia, Africa on human-carnivore conflicts.

Also, as apart of her undergraduate career at the State University of New York at Oswego, she studied the influence of wetland configuration on anuran road mortality. This was done to better understand how roadways affect anuran populations. At Bowling Green State University she hopes contribute to research involving mammals.

Jennifer Hollen is from Michigan and received her undergrad degree from Michigan State University. Some of the species she has worked with in the past include cerulean warblers, bats, and deer.  She was a cerulean warbler seasonal surveyor for the Michigan Audubon. As a Forest Service biological technician she studied bat roosting sites in Monogahela National Forest. While working as a research technician in MSU's Quantitative Wildlife lab she used genetics to evaluate urban deer social structure.