Massachusetts snake plan rattles many
BOSTON — A plan by the state to establish a colony of venomous timber rattlesnakes on an off-limits island in Massachusetts' largest body of water has some rattled by visions of dangerous serpents slithering through the surrounding woods, attacking hikers, fishermen and hunters.
Those are completely irrational fears based on the public's aversion to snakes, said Tom French of the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, who's directing the project at the 39-square mile Quabbin Reservoir.
“People are afraid that we're going to put snakes in a place of public use and that they are going to breed like rabbits and spread over the countryside and kill everybody,” he said.
There are only about 200 of the endangered snakes indigenous to Massachusetts left in five scattered pockets, French said. Loss of habitat and human-caused deaths means they could disappear altogether, which is why the Quabbin project is so critical.
The plan to establish the snakes on Mount Zion — at more than 1,400 acres, the largest island in the reservoir — has been in the works for several years. A handful of snakes will be raised and placed on the island in a couple years when they are mature.
The public's concerns stem from the fact that rattlesnakes can swim and the island is connected to the mainland by a pair of narrow causeways, French said.
