Western Massasauga

Photographs and Words Nick Sidle

Photograph – Niagara Falls, Canada

The Western Massasauga is a small rattlesnake which in three subspecies is found from Southern Canada to as far South as Mexico. The name Massasauga is that originally given to it by the Chippewa, one of the native peoples of North America. Although only growing to around 60cm and therefore smaller than most of the other rattlesnakes, the Massasauga has a very dangerous bite and like all snakes it is best left alone and treated with respect.

Photograph – Western Massasauga, Sistrurus catenatus tergeminus

It is good that the Massasauga has kept its native name. How would you feel if suddenly someone changed the names of all the animals in your country? Even if there were differences in language, a name is a name and when the first European settlers landed in America they did not discover anything, they merely saw it for the first time themselves. The Native Americans had long since explored their country and had names for the creatures they shared it with. In a twist on the same theme, in Australia a similar thing happened. Despite the Aborigines already having named their animals, the first Europeans took it upon themselves to rename everything. Eventually though as conservation became more of a priority, this proved to be a big problem. The European names were often unappealing, boring or off putting. For example, a large number of small animals were called some sort of rat, often inaccurately as well as unattractively. As a result, it was very difficult to get anyone to take any interest in conserving them or be sympathetic. Finally, therefore a decision was taken to reintroduce the Aborigine names in official books and other uses. With that conservation became an easier message to spread.

Rattlesnakes also illustrate another difference between native peoples and European settlers. When Jesuit missionaries first encountered rattlesnakes in America, they saw them as embodying everything that was evil. This was partly because of the story of Adam and Eve in the Bible but it was also because they were so ill equipped to live in the country they had gone to that the snakes were a genuine threat. To the native peoples however who had grown up with the land, although the snake had to be treated with respect, it was a symbol of life and fertility since its shape and movement resembled lightning and rushing water. The Hopi have snake priests who each year perform a ritual dance with snakes, including rattlesnakes, which at the end of the ceremony are released back into the wild to the North, South, East and West so that they will carry the message to the spirits that the Hopi still perform the traditions that place them in balance with the land. This is in the hope that the spirits will influence the gods to bring the rains. Contrast this with the European origin ceremonies in America linked to the rattlesnake which in one area include collecting as many as possible and then killing them in a very cruel way.

Massasauga not photographed in the wild