Additional herp symposia of interest at Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference!

[Jennifer Lamb]

In addition to the imperiled turtles and other herps symposia sponsored by MW PARC at the 2026 Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference, there is another symposium that will be of interest to this group, entitled Snakes in Winter. If that’s your bag, consider submitting your abstract for this symposium. While the symposium will have some invited speakers it is also open to anyone.

 

Abstracts are due September 26th. See the Midwest Fish and Wildlife Symposia page: https://www.midwestfw.org/symposia-2025.html 

 

For any questions, contact Bruce Kingsbury, Director of the Environmental Resources Center, Purdue University Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne Indiana, king...@pfw.edu

The Co-Organizer is Matt Kleitch, Natural Resource Manager, Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center, Michigan Department of Military and Environmental Affairs.

Overview:
The Eastern Massasauga is the only rattlesnake in the Midwest, and is listed as federally threatened. Conserving this species requires not only understanding its ecology and behavior during the active season, but also during the winter. Contrary to the behavior of some snakes, massasaugas overwinter in water down crayfish burrows and other access points in the vicinity of wetlands. Suitable sites appear to be limited. Understanding what habitats they select provides the opportunity to better conserve them during this sensitive time.  Our intention during this symposium is to focus on a variety of elements directly relating to massasauga overwintering. However, we would include speakers conducting work on overwintering by other species to give context and further lessons into snake natural history during the "off season."