An endangered rattlesnake recently discovered in northwest Iowa should be giving birth soon. The prairie rattlesnake was found in the Broken Kettle Grassland Preserve near Sioux City and it was pregnant. Shelly Hiemer, with the Nature Conservancy says the venomous female appeared to have eight eggs — expected to remain in her body until mid-August to mid-September — when her young will be born live.
Hiemer says that increased concentration of venom is a good thing.
The Nature Conservancy in July confirmed sightings of TWO endangered rattlesnakes in the state. In addition to the prairie rattler in Sioux City, a massasauga (moss’-uh-sog-uh) rattlesnake, also known as a “swamp rattler,” was spotted in the Lower Cedar Valley Preserve in Muscatine. The massasauga had not been seen in Iowa in about 15 years.
