SLIPPERY ROCK — If you’re walking through grassland and come across a rattlesnake, just calmly back away. No need for any screaming, sudden movements or poking the snake with a stick.

That’s the advice of two Slippery Rock University graduate students who are researching public awareness about the venomous eastern massasauga rattlesnake, which can be found in Butler County.

Larissa Cassano, a park and resource management major from Venetia, and Sara Isacco, an environmental education major from Butler, have been interviewing adults who live within a 12-mile radius of the state-owned Jennings Environmental Learning Education Center, about what they know about the snake.

“We’re asking people what they know, their basis for knowledge of the habitat and characteristics, and what they think about the snake,” said Isacco.

“This has been our spring semester independent class,” Isacco said. “We started in January, and the study is continuing. It will end in July.”

Jennings maintains a 20-acre prairie for the massasauga, and the researchers are targeting those who hike, walk their dog or take classes in the area.

By documenting the public’s perceptions about the snake, the two students said Jennings would have reliable data that could better inform the staff’s educational offerings.

“Our work is an elicitation study, so we’re focused on what people think and perceive about these creatures,” Cassano said. “In essence, we’re also raising awareness about this creature and the situation it is in.”

So far Isacco said, “Most people seem pretty neutral about the snake. The attitude seems to be the snake is there to survive, just as we need to survive.”

Cassano and Isacco will join their faculty adviser Becky Thomas, assistant professor of parks and recreation, to present their research at the North American Congress for Conservation Biology July 17-20 in Madison, Wis.

The massasauga lives in Midwestern North America, from Ontario as far south as northern Mexico. About 30 inches long, the gray and tan snake is listed as endangered in Pennsylvania.

The biggest misconception about the massasauga, Cassano said, is many people think the snake is hunting them.

“People might not know the warning signs when the snake feels threatened,” Cassano said. “I also think a lot of people don’t really know what to do when they come across a snake in general.

“Being loud and making a scene is not to your benefit around a snake. Honestly, the attitudes seem to be rooted in misconceptions or lack of information.

“Sometimes people are influenced as children — maybe an adult killed a snake in front of them and that experience has shaped their feelings,” she said.

Cassano conceded most people are leery of snakes, especially those with venom.

“Sadly, this is true,” she said. “In general, people are drawn to those furry animals with big eyes. Most of the fear is based on preconceived notions, misinterpreted information or simple lack of information. People fear what they don’t know or don’t understand.”

Wil Taylor, a 1994 SRU graduate, manages the 300-acre Jennings property, which provides environmental education and offers five miles of trails on its property, including a half-mile trail through the prairie. Taylor said that in the history of Jennings no human or pet has been bitten by a massasauga.

The snake is found in two verified locations in Butler County, Jennings and an area around West Sunbury.

The state’s other two poisonous snakes, the timber rattler and the copperhead aren’t believed to be present in the county

In reality, rattlesnake bites are rare and not always lethal. A fatal rattlesnake bite hadn’t occurred in Pennsylvania for 25 years before a 39-year-old man was bitten at a campsite in Elk County in the summer of 2015. He was killed by a timber rattlesnake.

Taylor said the massasauga’s bite’s lethality depends on many variables including the size of the snake and the health of the bitee, but “it would be an uncomfortable situation. You probably aren’t going to die but you are going to hurt and you are going to swell. You need to seek medical treatment.”

He said Butler Memorial Hospital has anti-venom on hand.

Still, Cassano said she would love to see a massasauga up close.

“I have visited Jennings and seen some burrows but never a specimen,” she said.

Isacco said, “It’s currently considered endangered in the state and it may be listed as endangered federally soon.”

“It’s a very, very small snake and a super nonaggressive one,” she said.

As they act as a communication bridge between the public and parks, the researchers said they ultimately want local residents to realize that parks and wildlife are valuable resources that should be preserved.

“Parks are managed to provide educational learning environments and opportunities to witness nature at work,” Cassano said. “Aside from common wildlife, Jennings is a spot for many special plants and creatures, but there are many more people who need to be aware of the uniqueness and subsequently how to safely and respectfully interact with the park.”