Amphibians and Reptiles B‑class Mid‑importance

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Contradiction

This article on the Massasauga Rattlesnake states that it is the ONLY venomous snake in Michigan and Ontario however, the Wikipedia article on the Common garter snake (see URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garter_snake) states that "Garters were long thought to be nonvenomous, but recent discoveries have revealed that they do in fact produce a mild neurotoxic venom." The direct quotation mentioned above also includes a cited reference thus one would likely draw the conclusion that the article on Garter Snakes is correct. Although this may be considered a minor error, it is a contradiction in the information provided on the listed species and could affect the integrity of Wikipedia. I therefore suggest that the information in this article (Massasauga Rattlesnake)be amended to state that the Massasauga Rattlesnake is one of only two known venomous species of snake in Michigan and Ontario. --Greywolf (talk) 17:42, 9 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Merge

Massasauga Rattlesnake is a less comprehensive article, I'd like to merge it into this article and make it into a redirect. -Dawson 17:20, 24 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Excellent idea. The sooner the better. I added some categories to the Massasauga Rattlesnake page so that it will remain more visible in the mean time. -Jwinius Wed Apr 26 19:11:51 UTC 2006

NPOV

It is very obvious the author is from Canada. While I have no problem with that, it is not appropriate for an article to constantly start out, "in Onatrio..." —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.152.125.152 (talk) 19:22, 19 March 2007 (UTC).[reply]

More Info

There is no information here about what these snakes eat, or what may eat them. 11:35, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Does this look better? Cheers, --Jwinius (talk) 21:18, 1 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Are you kidding me?? Describing this species as a grey pit viper which is sometimes referred to as a rattlesnake really freaked me out for a while!! I was cross referencing all kinds of stuff trying to nail it down. It wasn't until I noticed an actual rattle in one of the pictures that I breathed a sigh of relief!

SOO.. How come NONE of you geniuses noticed that the descriptions of the RATTLEsnakes have completely left out any mention of the actual RATTLE??

..and you wonder why people question the validity of Wikipedia. Yeesh!!

I'm not even going to bother logging in to claim this 'rant', but could someone find an expert somewhere to do a rewrite of the descriptions? PLEASE?? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 8.28.70.17 (talk) 09:26, 14 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Anthropomorphism

Snakes are often described as "shy". This is anthropomorphism, we do not know enough about snake mindset to use terms specific to humans in describing them. Snake tactics are hit and withdraw, that is different than shy. I have observed Mass. Rat. in the wild and some of their behaviour is aggressive by normal measures. It is also often pointed out that people only run afoul of Mass. Rat. through their own fault. This undermines snake conservation as people do not want to be faulted for doing normal things that may interfere with snakes. Warnings about unsafe behaviour are one thing, but blaming the "victim" does not advance the cause of snakes.

Venom

I had a reference at one point that indicated that Mass. venom was very powerful and was not only a hemotoxin. This is a detail I was trying to confirm by visiting this site. The Michigan site states it is weak, while other sites state it is potent, but that the snakes often inject little or none (ignoring the fact there are big snakes within the type). The fact that the antivenin is not always available it is an important point, as snakebite survival rates are mostly predicated on availability of treatment. The Mass. in Ontario is present in proximity to humans, like Huntsville area, but also in wilderness areas where 2 hours to treatment is not going to happen, in part due to conditions, and in part due to local hospitals not being supplied with the antivenin, and in part because one can't move around a lot after the bite.

Another important point is the maiming the bites cause which is severe with the Mass. It is nice to survive, but there can be extensive tissue damage. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.70.44.187 (talk) 17:49, 20 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]