Rattlesnake Wranglers Help Conserve Michigan’s Only Venomous Snake at Military Base

An adult male eastern massasauga rattlesnake was captured by volunteers at Camp Grayling on May 6, 2025. The snake was brought to a small field lab at the military base to be measured, tagged with a microchip, and checked for health problems. (Sheri McWhirter/MLive.com)

GRAYLING, Michigan — It’s snake week at Camp Grayling. Each spring, dozens of conservation researchers and volunteers descend on the Michigan Army National Guard base in northern Lower Michigan for four days of scientific rattlesnake wrangling. Venomous eastern massasauga rattlesnakes are captured in what’s called a “blitz style” field survey, then are carefully inspected by […]