Massasaugas spend most of their lives in fields of grasses, sedges, and forbs with scattered woody shrubs and trees.
Massasaugas are associated with a wide variety of early-successional, vegetative communities across their range; in general, however, most habitats are composed of wet, herbaceous communities, such as wet meadows, prairies, sedge meadows, and old fields interspersed with shrubs and adjacent to mesic grasslands or lowland forests. Potential suitable wetland habitats include fens, bogs, marshes, forested swamps, and wet meadows. Upland habitats include prairies, grasslands, savannas, and fallow fields. Specifically, three habitat characteristics are consistent among all occupied sites: 1) open, sunlit areas intermixed with areas of shade for thermoregulatory and predator avoidance purposes; 2) the presence of the water table near the surface for overwintering; and 3) variable topography among wetland, lowland, and upland habitat areas. In the winter, Massasaugas go underground – usually in crayfish or small mammal burrows – to avoid freezing.
Crayfish burrows are commonly used by Massasaugas (and many other species) to avoid freezing temperatures during the winter.
A Massasauga will usually spend its life in an area of less than 40 acres, although this can vary widely. Variation in the home range can result from differences in the amount and quality of the habitat, as well as the circumstances of the individual snake. Snakes that are gravid (pregnant) generally have the smallest home ranges.
The Meadow Vole is a common food item of the Massasauga.
Massasaugas are opportunistic predators, primarily feeding upon small mammals, but occasionally eating other snakes. Hairs from fecal samples of Ohio Massasaugas identified the following food items (in decreasing order of prevalence): Northern Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina brevicauda), Masked Shrew (Sorex cinereus), Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus), Meadow Vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus), Deer Mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), Meadow Jumping Mouse (Zapus hudsonicus), Eastern Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger), and Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) (Weatherhead et al. 2009). Food items are injected with venom to kill the prey and begin digestion before being eaten by the snake.
Like all rattlesnakes, Massasaugas give birth to live young. Breeding can take place at any time, but normally occurs in late summer or early fall. The female gives birth the following year, usually in mid-August, to an average of seven young. They become old enough to reproduce at around age three in Ohio.
Massasaugas can be difficult to see, and prefer to rely on their camouflage to avoid danger. Unfortunately, this means that they rarely flee from mowers and farm machinery.