第 0561 號，共 1 402 號

Eastern massasauga

Sistrurus catenatus

名字的由來： "Massasauga" comes from the Ojibwe language and probably means "great river-mouth", likely describing the grasslands around river deltas.1

需要看醫生很少致命，但被咬了需要看醫生。

響尾蛇

咬吃：肉

對人的危險: 嚴重被咬了需要看醫生。死亡案例非常罕見。

The eastern massasauga is a small rattlesnake that lives in eastern North America, mainly around the Great Lakes. It is the only venomous snake in Ontario, Canada. It is shy and keeps away from people, but it is a protected species because its numbers have fallen sharply.1

分布在

Southern Ontario, Canada, and eastern parts of the Midwestern United States, including the Great Lakes region1

北美洲

首頁

It is most often found near wetlands such as swamps, marshes, bogs, fens, wet meadows and floodplains. It may also live in meadows, prairies and coniferous forests, and often uses crayfish burrows. In summer it may move to drier habitats.1

長度

60 cm 到 75 cm (2 ft 到 2,5 ft)1

最高速度

大約 3,4 km/h（2,1 mph）

在陸地上, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

It eats small vertebrates, mainly rodents such as voles, white-footed mice, jumping mice and shrews. Juveniles mostly eat reptiles, usually lizards in western populations and snakes in eastern ones. Frogs are also an important food in some northern and eastern populations.1

Eastern massasauga 的照片 — Eastern massasauga。照片：Willem Span。 CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist.

怎麼認出牠

Ground colour is grey or tan.1
A row of large, rounded brown or black blotches runs down the centre of the back.1
Three smaller rows of alternating spots run down each side.1
Solid black individuals also occur.1
Like all rattlesnakes, it has heat-sensing pits on each side of its head, between the eye and the nostril.1

毒液力量

咬

咬的時候，毒液會從毒牙或牙齒出來。

牠的毒液有什麼作用？

Its venom is cytotoxic, which means it destroys tissue. It also contains digestive enzymes that disrupt blood flow and stop blood from clotting. In its prey, these effects cause severe internal bleeding.1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 嚴重被咬了需要看醫生。死亡案例非常罕見。

The snake is shy and avoids humans when it can. Most bites in Ontario happened after people handled it or accidentally stepped on it. Only two deaths from its bites have been recorded in Ontario, and in both cases the victims did not receive proper treatment.1

牠害怕時會做什麼？

It is shy and tends to withdraw from people rather than confront them.1

如果牠咬人

讓傷者保持不動和冷靜，讓被咬的手臂或腿保持在和心臟一樣的高度，取下戒指和緊身的東西，並趕快送醫院。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果被牠咬了：保持冷靜，保持不動，打緊急電話（112、000、911）或趕快去醫院。記住牠的樣子，有照片會很有幫助。

牠不是想來抓你。牠用毒液來捕捉食物或保護自己，而且牠更想躲起來。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

跟 4 根香蕉頭尾相接一樣長可以在 110 秒內跑完 100 公尺（最快的人類需要 9.6 秒）

Eastern massasauga 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

一隻陸龜 大約 0,3 km/h (0,19 mph)

Eastern massasauga 大約 3,4 km/h (2,1 mph)

一個正在走路的人 大約 5 km/h (3,1 mph)

值得知道

小知識

It is a pit viper, a family that includes all rattlesnakes, and it is the only venomous snake in Ontario.1

Mothers and newborns stay together for a few days, until the young shed their skin for the first time.1

Females often do not breed every year, usually having a two-year breeding cycle.1

Its populations have declined so much that it has disappeared from many of its former areas, and now survives mainly in small, isolated groups.1

給毒液專家

學名: Sistrurus catenatus
類群: 響尾蛇
家人: Viperidae2
排序: Squamata
各大洲: 北美洲
寶寶: It gives birth to live young (it is ovoviviparous), usually in August or September. Litters of 5 to 14 have been reported in Illinois and 6 to 19 in Wisconsin, and the newborns are 18.8 to 24.4 cm long from snout to vent.1
牠在野外的狀況: Threatened in Canada under federal and Ontario law; listed as endangered in several US states; IUCN Red List: least concern (2007, with a note that the assessment needs updating)1
對人的危險: 3 / 5: 嚴重3