We’ll be perfectly honest up front: We hate snakes, even if they do play some sort of role in the environmental scheme of things.  We’ve never oohed or aahed over a snake with unique markings or of unusual size and we certainly don’t understand what would prompt an individual to want to own one.  We never had the urge to have our photo taken with a ginormous snake wrapped around our neck at one of the amusement parks.

That being said, we were in disbelief when we read recently that the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife is considering establishing a timber rattlesnake colony on Mount Zion, an island in western Massachusetts which is in the Quabbin Reservoir.  The off-limits 1400-acre island is attached to the mainland by a narrow causeway.

According to news reports, Massachusetts has about 200 of these snakes living in five identified locations between Boston and the Berkshires, and there is fear that they will become extinct unless they are protected and a special corner of the world preserved for them. Initial plans call for raising some baby snakes at a Providence zoo and then moving them to the island when they are mature enough to survive in the wild.     

Needless to say, some folks aren’t too keen on the idea and have expressed concerns that since snakes swim, they could eventually inhabit the mainland or nearby islands.    One of the project’s backers was quoted as saying that opponents are acting like the snakes will “breed like rabbits and spread over the countryside and kill everybody. ‘’  If we lived near the proposed new rattlesnake habitat, we’d probably be counted among them, despite reminders that there have reportedly been no known rattlesnake bites in the state for decades even though the current snake colonies exist where there is heavy foot traffic.

With warming temperatures, New England is becoming home to many species of wildlife not normally seen here in years past. The increased presence of Great White sharks off our coastline is a perfect example and most fishermen will tell you they are seeing southern fish much more frequently. It only stands to reason that onshore species are making their way north, too.

As for timber rattlers, while they are apparently already here, we can’t say that we favor protecting them and trying to increase their numbers by giving them their own reservation. But then, what would you expect a good, all-American snake hater to say, anyway?