Student researchers Ava Whitlock and Brody Glei get ready to fly a drone equipped with a heat-sensitive camera to find rare eastern massasauga rattlesnakes. Image: Ruth Thorton/WKAR
Wildlife

Researchers use drones to find elusive Michigan rattlesnake

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By Ruth Thornton

Standing together at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute near Hastings, Michigan, two students stared intently at the screen, looking for the subtle signs of the small rattlesnake they were trying to find. The eastern massasauga, Michigan’s only rattlesnake, typically hides in dense vegetation in wetlands, and conservation biologists are concerned about trampling their sensitive wetland habitats to study them. To avoid that problem, researchers are using drones equipped with heat-sensitive cameras to find them. “What I’m looking for is anything that looks what we call ‘snakey,’” said Brody Glei, a student at Grand Valley State University, as he looks at the screen with the camera feed – “where it’s either kind of looking like an S-curve or if it’s in some weird shape that doesn’t really look like vegetation.”

Those studying the rare and elusive eastern massasauga rattlesnake are hampered by its secretive behavior. Massasaugas hide so well that researchers often walk by just inches away without seeing them, Glei said.

Water

Michigan program helps hobbyists safely rehome aquatic flora and fauna

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By Elinor Epperson

Don’t flush that unwanted goldfish – find it a new home instead. Home aquariums and water gardening are two of the many routes invasive species take to enter Michigan habitats. A Michigan State University Extension program provides educational materials and resources for rehoming unwanted aquatic pets. Reduce Invasive Pet and Plant Escapes (RIPPLE) works with hobbyists, retailers and gardeners to minimize the release of invasive species into the wild. Most people may not give much thought to letting one or two pets go for a variety of reasons – financial, lifestyle changes or change of seasons, for example – but Paige Filice, the program’s primary coordinator, said those numbers add up.

Image: A Michigan Department of Natural Resources technician collects a red swamp crayfish from a retention pond in Novi in August 2022. Matthew Clara/ DNR
Water

Michigan trying new approaches against invasive crayfish

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By Elinor Epperson

Researchers are exploring new techniques to remove an invasive crayfish from Michigan waters. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has been fighting an invasion of red swamp crayfish since they first appeared in the state in 2017. Aggressive attempts to trap and remove the crustacean haven’t worked. Kathleen Quebedeaux, a fisheries biologist with the DNR, said eradicating the invader will require a variety of approaches. “In order to have a more efficient means of achieving eradication, we need other tools in our toolbox,” she said.

Wildlife

Butterflies race for state insect status

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Three butterflies are racing to become Michigan’s official state insect – and one of them is ahead, at least politically. 

The black swallowtail butterfly, a native of Michigan, spends its whole life cycle in the state hibernating as pupa under leaves during winter and hatching in the spring.