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Desert massasauga rattler may win endangered species status
A brown-and-white rattlesnake that nuzzles in courtship — threatened by vehicles and conversion of prairie for farming and grazing — could get federal protection as an endangered species.
Federal wildlife authorities have found there's sufficient evidence the desert massasauga could go extinct and will launch a 12-month investigation of the snake's biological status, according to a notice to be published Thursday in the federal register.
Two years ago, the conservation group WildEarth Guardians petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect these rattlers. "The massasauga is a vital strand in the web of life and deserves protection and respect, not persecution and fear," wildlife program director Mark Salvo said.
Desert massasauga rattlers live on grasslands in southeastern Colorado and around the Southwest. They're smaller than other rattlers — usually less than 16 inches long — and not as poisonous.