Sauga Film

03/01/2026

A reupload of my favorite stills from our time up in Northern MI for some massasauga work, and a recap of my favorite story and wildest experience with a wild EMR!

Ian and I were both filming and participating in surveying, so we were in the survey line actively looking for snakes with the team. I found one by nearly stepping right on it, and called over our designated capturers. The snake darted under some pine needles from a fallen tree. Because I was assisting with the actual capture, we don’t have (usable) footage. I helped with moving the branches to uncover the snake and trying to keep an eye on where it was. Our unit leader, Nate, went in with the tongs to capture it. The snake moved again right toward me as I was holding up these pine branches and coiled up next to my foot rattling like mad. Nate went for the grab, the snake ran again and slithered right across my feet before he eventually caught it.

Not once was that snake interested in striking me despite me nearly putting my foot directly on it. They much prefer to hide or flee if they can. I always tell my team when we’re filming around EMRs is that the best thing to do if they make a run at you like that is stay still and let them move on. I wasn’t posing the biggest threat to the snake- the guy trying to catch it with the tongs was, so it ignored me completely.

It’s very easy to not get bit by these guys! Their fangs are too small to pe*****te proper footwear like muck boots or hiking boots. If you encounter one, leave it be and admire it from a safe distance. They won’t chase, they won’t want to hurt you, they just want to survive!

11/04/2025

Venom saves lives! Dusky pygmy rattlesnakes are a cousin to Michigan’s massasauga, and they play a pretty important role in medicine. A protein in their venom was used to develop an anticoagulant called Eptifibatide, which is used in both cardiac procedures and to manage certain cardiac events/conditions. If you or someone you know has had open heart surgery or needed medical intervention for a cardiac condition, there’s a chance that a rattlesnake saved your life!

10/24/2025

Wide shot of one of the four dusky pygmy rattlesnakes that I got to see down in Florida last month. I really like the composition of this shot so I wanted to post it individually. It’s really great for showing the sort of habitat they like to frequent.

I’ve wanted to get footage of these guys for our massasauga film for a long time now. The dusky pygmy is a close relative to our saugas (both in the Sistrurus genus) and having some footage to compare the two was always on my mind. I just never thought I’d get the chance to go down south to get that content. I’m very happy with how the shots came out.

More close-ups coming soon.

08/15/2025

A threatened species and Michigan’s only venomous snake, one massasauga mom was discovered in a culvert at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens with snakelets in late July. Now, they’re moving toward their winter habitat.

08/12/2025

I need to shout out Sauga crew members Maddie Gingerich and Arie Antonakis, who were our DPs on the shoot that the still is from! It was back in 2023 where we interviewed Adam Austin and got b-roll of a mock handling course for our film (we cannot film the real courses). That was my first time directing something adjacent to a “reenactment” for a doc, and I remember it was quite fun.

Come this fall once my weekends are freed up again, I’m planning to grab a couple more formal interviews with folks from SWMLC and MNFI, and then we should be ready to wrap production and get to editing!

Once again to keep up with our production status, follow us here and feel free to share the page!

Are you a land manager, environmental consultant, first responder, homeowner, zookeeper, veterinary professional, biologist, herpetology enthusiast, photographer, or anyone looking to learn how to safely handle venomous reptiles while receiving a professional certification? This course is for you!

07/25/2025

The folks at SWMLC have been endlessly supportive and helpful with the film by letting me stick my camera in their faces for impromptu field interviews and b-roll during surveys! It’s always such a great experience getting to work alongside both the staff and the other volunteers. Surveys are one of the only reliable ways that we’ve been able to get the kind of footage we have of these snakes, and it’s really the only way we’ve been able to document the scientific side of their conservation. It’s so awesome to see all the work being done to learn about and to save such a small, under-appreciated species. In a world where most folks either don’t care about rattlesnakes or don’t even know that we have them here in the Mitten, it’s so incredible to know that these vipers have so many passionate, dedicated people in their corner fighting for them!

How do you find a danger noodle in a haystack? With patience, sharp eyes, stamina, and lotsa luck!

When SWMLC protected LaGrange Valley Wetlands in 2024, we knew federally-endangered eastern massasauga rattlesnakes (EMRs) lived there but had no idea where on the 427-acre property the small shy reptiles were located – let alone how many, their ages and s*x, or their general health. Improving habitat for these small snakes is a top priority for us at LaGrange Valley, but we won't know if we're doing it right until we answer these basic questions, then follow up with regular monitoring to see how they're doing. So this past spring, with help from Adam Austin of The Rattlesnake Conservancy, staff from Edward Lowe Foundation, researchers, and trained volunteers, SWMLC’s Conservation & Stewardship Director Mitch Lettow led a 45-minute cross-country wetland trek to find and tag these elusive, threatened beauties. See more photos like this one of a "tubed" snake (taken by the talented documentarian Colleen Kellogg) and read the whole story on our website: https://swmlc.org/noodles-in-a-haystack/

05/14/2025

I’ve been wanting to make it out to cover the northern MI massasauga populations for the film for nearly three seasons now, and last week we finally got to do it as part of a mark-recapture survey!

It’s wild how different the habitat up there is. If you’re used to southern MI populations, it’s hard to believe that they could be found in the habitats we were in until you walk up on one hanging out in the moss.

It’s also much harder to see them (the last photo for example shows one in the top right that we didn’t notice the entire time we were catching a different one). I nearly stepped right on one and it darted under some pine needles. We moved the branches to uncover the snake and our unit leader, Nate, went in with the tongs to capture it. It moved again right toward me as I was holding up these pine branches and coiled up next to my foot just rattling like mad. Nate went for the grab, snake ran again and slithered right across my feet before he eventually caught it.

I always tell my team when we’re filming around EMRs is that the best thing to do if they make a run at you like that is stay still and let them move on. Didn’t think I’d be putting that into practice this week! It was rattling and exhibiting defensive behavior, but had no interest in striking at me even though I was pretty much on top of it. I wasn’t posing the biggest threat to it- the tongs were, so it ignored me completely. It was captured safely and returned to the field after being processed at the onsite lab. That snake is not pictured because I was assisting with the capture and couldn’t film.

Massive thank you to Westbound Productions for the generous donation that allowed us to travel for this shoot! 🩵🐍

10/22/2024

I found my very first Massasauga last October, and I spent over an hour observing, filming, and photographing it. Up until that point, the only saugas I’d seen had been found by the folks I was with. I consider this one to be my lifer.

07/28/2024

Taking this course was how I got involved with rattlesnake surveys here in Michigan. I highly recommend it as it’s a great resource and a perfect stepping stone if you’re interested in getting involved with conservation!

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Are you a land manager, environmental consultant, first responder, homeowner, zookeeper, veterinary professional, biologist, herpetology enthusiast, photographer, or anyone looking to learn how to safely handle venomous reptiles while receiving a professional certification? This course is for you! 👀🐍
Sign up now at: https://www.savethebuzztails.org/events/level-1-venomous-handling-certification-course-kalamazoo-mi-2
And see all available courses at savethebuzztails.org/classes

07/20/2024

We cut together a Massasauga video this week! Check it out!

Discover the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake, Michigan's only venomous snake, and learn why conserving this keystone species is vital. This video explores the...