They rely on their coloration for camouflage to avoid detection. One may almost step on this snake before provoking a reaction from it. I have found that they are diverse in their behavior as some will rattle at the least provocation and strike repeatedly. This snake is generally diurnal except during extremely hot weather. They seem to enjoy warm overcast weather as this is the condition under which many specimens were found.
Mornings are a good time in which to look for basking massasaugas.
They take shelter under rocks, logs, pieces of bark, under piles of brush, muskrat houses, or in crayfish burrows. They breed in the spring and sometimes again in the fall. They may only breed every other year or less and are sexually mature at the age of three or four. The young are equipped with fangs and are venomous as soon as they are born. They are usually brighter colored than the adults.