Yep; we get massassauga rattlers in northern Ontario. They are an endangered species though, and rarely seen.
15 Likes
That makes sense. Though if the map is entitled “rattlesnakes” it should include all genera.
15 Likes
It should…but are pygmy rattlesnakes actually still rattlesnakes? I would say yes, but you can see for instance iNaturalist doesn’t count them that way. Compare how for instance hippopotamus gets used to mean Hippopotamus amphibius and then the pygmy hippopotamus is counted as a different hippopotamid, or how chimpanzee means just Pan troglodytes and pygmy chimpanzees usually don’t even get called that any more. Common names get messy. 
13 Likes
And today I learned there are multiple genera of rattlesnakes! 
Pygmy rattlesnakes sound cute. Definitely in-the-distance cute
17 Likes
Emergence of a novel drinking innovation in an urban population of sulphur-crested cockatoos, Cacatua galerita
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2025.0010
12 Likes
11 Likes
As @OWYAC says, the snakes are called massassauga rattlers. The city is Mississauga, a large city west of Toronto (no wild rattlesnakes there).
I’ve only seen one, while hiking on the Bruce Peninsula between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. They grow to 60cm (24") or so and aren’t aggressive.
15 Likes
My cottage is in rattler country, but I’ve never seen one, my mother had never seen one, and my grandmother had never seen one, and this is going back to 1904, when the cottage was built. My cousins have seen them, but very rarely. The snakes seem to prefer the south shore of the lake, and are seen more frequently there.
15 Likes
Interesting. Growing up in Michigan, we always called them “Missisauga” rattlesnakes. Huh.
15 Likes
I’ve lived in Michigan for just short of 30 years, and I’ve not once heard anyone pronounce the name of this snake the way it is spelled. lol.
16 Likes
16 Likes
…and I’ve only seen 'em at the Detroit Zoo.
Their Reptile House is fabulous. I have to be dragged outta there whenever I visit.
12 Likes
Pretty sure I have that EP on CD!
Sorta related aside: lived in Texass for 4th and 5th grade, only live armadillo I ever saw was at the Ft. Worth zoo. 
14 Likes
That’s a life-changing EP for some folks XD
Getting to see any armadillos at all IRL is wonderful XD
12 Likes
12 Likes
I saw a live one when we were camping once. We threw it a piece of fruit & accidentally beaned it in the face. 
We could tell it was angry, such that to this day, I (mis)remember that armadillo glaring back at us with red eyes.
14 Likes
That wasn’t an armadillo…it was a chupacabradillo!
16 Likes