Wisconsin is home to an array of magnificent natural resources. Native plants, animals, picturesque forests and wetlands are part of what makes the Badger State so great. Sadly, more than 400 fish and wildlife species are in big trouble – with some populations so low that many are at risk of extinction.

The Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is working hard to jumpstart wildlife comebacks on the ground, in the air and water for generations to come. We sat down with DNR Conservation Biologists Rori Paloski and Jesse Weinzinger to learn more about how they are bringing back the natural habitat for two at-risk species in Wisconsin.

For more on how we're saving at-risk species together, dive into the 2019 Field Notes report online or in the winter issue of Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine hitting mailboxes soon!

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TRANSCRIPT

Intro Voice: [00:00:00] Welcome to Wisconsin DNR's Wild Wisconsin -- Off The Record podcast. Information straight from the source.

Katie : [00:00:13] Welcome back to another episode of Wild Wisconsin - Off the Record, I'm your host DNRs digital media coordinator, Katie Grant. More than 12,000 fish and wildlife species across America and 400 right here in Wisconsin are in trouble. In fact, their populations are declining so low that many are at risk of extinction.

Wisconsin's native plants, animals and landscapes are a big part of what makes the state so great. Preserving this natural heritage for current and future generations is the mission of DNR's  Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation. Every year, the Natural Heritage Conservation program celebrates the wins of department staff via an insert in the winter issue of Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine.

There are plenty of conservation success stories happening right here in Wisconsin. In celebration of their work, we sat down with two of our biologists to learn a bit more about their projects. So sit back and listen in as I learned about the work, Rori Paloski is doing to help bring back habitat for some very important reptiles here in Wisconsin.

Rori: [00:01:23] So my official titleconservation biologist, and that could cover a lot of things. What I do specifically is work with amphibians and reptiles, and a lot of what I do focuses on conservation of rare species, but I also do some regulatory work as well. 

Katie : [00:01:38] Alright. So you mentioned reptiles, amphibians... The things that are stereotypically kind of slimy and gross. What got you interested in these? 

Rori: [00:01:50] So I think one of the first things I was interested in, I've always been interested in wildlife and things outdoors. Um, frogs were probably one of the first things I was interested in and that kinda got me interested in salamanders.

Um, turtles, snakes, lizards, they're kind of all a package deal. Um, luckily I like working with all of them. Uh, yes, though they are kind of slimy. I always kind of joke sometimes too. Um, uh, I've done a tiny bit of work with bats as well, so another kind of creepy crawly animal as well. 

Katie : [00:02:20] Yeah. I hear though, that's your favorite project is working with the Eastern Massassauga rattlesnakes. 

Rori: [00:02:28] Yes. Yes

Katie : [00:02:29] Why? Tell me about that. 

Rori: [00:02:30] So it's a unique species. I really do enjoy working with snakes. Um, a lot of people don't know, we have two species of rattlesnakes in Wisconsin. We have the Massassauga, or Eastern Massassauga rattlesnake and the Timber rattlesnake.

And the Timber rattlesnake is more commonly known and seen. It's found in the Bluffs of some of our bigger rivers. Um kind of bluff prairies, rocky bluffs, but the Massasauga is a smaller species and it maxes out at about two and a half feet, usually, it's pretty small, generally pretty docile.

You don't want to take any chances, but it's generally pretty docile snake, um, and they're really unique. One thing I like about them is, you know, when you picture rattlesnakes in the country, um, you know, you often think of rattlesnakes in the desert, you know, out west. And the Massassauga is unique in that it's a wetland rattlesnake.

Um, it's sometimes referred to as a swamp or marsh rattlesnake. It really likes wetland habitat. That's what it.... It's evolved with, um, it uses crayfish boroughs for overwintering. It goes down. It needs to reach the water table to overwinter. So it's a really unique snake. I like it partly just, you know, because it's so unique and it has really, um, different adaptations to the environment.

Um, but it's also really rare. It's been endangered in Wisconsin since the 1970s mid 1970s and has been listed as a federally threatened species for about three years now as well, which means it's really rare globally also. 

Katie : [00:04:00] Okay. Let's take a half a step back quick. Um, so you mentioned the two kinds of rattlesnakes in Wisconsin.

How many different kinds of snakes in total do we have in Wisconsin? 

Rori: [00:04:10] We have 21 species in Wisconsin 

Katie : [00:04:14] With regard to the two spec.. two species of rattlesnakes. Are there a lot of them, and I mean, you mentioned kind of the... um.. the land types that they exist in, but where throughout the state can you find them?

Rori: [00:04:29] Yeah, so we have, um, so yeah, 21 species in the state. Um, the Massassauga is one of our rarest species. Um, some of our species are really common, like the common garter snake. It's a black snake with yellow lines on it. People probably see that quite a bit when they're out and about. The Massassauga...

We're down to only eight populations in the state. And, that, that's not a lot. And some of those eight, um, we don't have very good information on them. Maybe only, have seen a few individuals in the last 20 years, so we're not sure if that population is genetically viable, what we call genetically viable, which means, um, there's enough individuals to keep reproducing and keep the genetics going without getting bottlenecked.

So the Massassauga, uh, probably historically was much more common in the west-central and southern portions of the state. 

Katie : [00:05:16] Okay. 

Rori: [00:05:16] And that's still it's general range, but then it's contracted just to those eight sites. And the primary reasons it's contracted it's range is because of wetland filling, wetland clearing.

Um, but also there was a bounty in Wisconsin on rattlesnakes until 1975. And that was on both species of rattlesnakes. So if citizens brought in a dead rattlesnake to usually the County office, um, they could get, you know, a dollar or $5 for, for turning the snake in. So people did that as a way to make money.

And that ended in 1975 and beginning in 1975, the Massassauga was listed as an endangered species in Wisconsin. So it was kind of right about the time that., you know, the, it was noted that that was causing a decline in snakes. They stopped it and put it on the list right away. So. Yeah....