Posted on 02/21/2016 9:02:00 PM PST by BlatherNaut
Outrage at 'snake island': Massachusetts residents' anger at rattlesnake colony planned for uninhabited island but wildlife officials insist there is no risk
Plans to establish a colony of venomous rattlesnakes on an island in Massachusetts have been met with outrage due to fears that the animals could escape.
Timber rattlesnakes are indigenous to the New England state, and with only about 200 left, wildlife officials are fighting to save the endangered species.
Tom French of the state's Division of Fisheries and Wildlife hopes the snakes, which currently inhabit five scattered pockets throughout Massachusetts, can come together on Mount Zion, the largest island in the Quabbin Reservoir.
But people are concerned about their own safety - especially since rattlesnakes can swim and the island is connected to the mainland by a pair of narrow causeways.
French, who is directing the project and representing the state at a public meeting on Tuesday to address concerns, said people are driven by irrational fears. He said: '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.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I can be up there locked and loaded to help wipe these 200 out!
Obviously if they establish good numbers on the island they will naturally extend out from it... how long that will take? Who knows. There is also little doubt that when they do branch out the DEP will make other places they land off limits.
Not sure what the solution is, but, the concerns are valid.
Only for a few weeks every summer.... :)
The only rattle snake I've needed to kill was one injured badly when hit by a car. Sorry but the stuff you're saying is not true and it's fear mongering.
This is a C. Horridus or Eastern Timber Rattler that I photographed in 2012. As you can see, I got quite close to her and she wasn't aggressive at all. Yes, I was within strike range...
No, rattle snakes aren’t varmints, they eat the varmints. Seriously people, if a snake scares you so bad that you have to kill it on sight, if the poop hits the fan, put a bullet in your head because you’re not tough enough to survive a disaster.
Let me clear it up for everyone.
1. Rattle snakes aren’t aggressive. They will become defensive if they feel they are in danger. The hint here is to leave them alone.
2. Rattle snakes are becoming endangered and are protected in many states. In quite a few states, killing a rattle snake is a felony. Why are rattle snakes becoming endangered? Just look at the mouth breathers on this thread and how excited they get about killing a “mean ol’ rattler” and you have your answer.
3. Rattle snakes are one of the most important natural resources we have for controlling the spread of disease. Lymes disease, rabies, rat bite fever, etc. are all spread through rodents and the parasites they carry. Snakes eat the rodents and the parasites on the rodents reducing the spread of these diseases. Rattle snakes are one of the top predators in this arena.
4. If you do find a rattle snake on your property, leave it alone or call someone like me, a local herper, to remove it and relocate it. If you try to kill it, your chances of getting bit go up about 95%. There are people like me who will come out, safely remove the animal and relocate it somewhere safe where it won’t have to worry about getting killed by uneducated people.
5. Stop fear mongering. You sound like anti gunners in a rabid anti gun freak fest. There is a lot of fear and voodoo with no basis in reality. What you are doing is feeding into a panic frenzy. Do you also look for monsters under the bed at night?
I work with snakes every day. I’ve rescued everything from garter snakes to Gabon vipers to 20+ foot reticulated pythons. I know snakes very well and it’s disappointing to see people that are so astute on politics turn into drooling retards on the matter of snakes. Seriously people, they’re not out to get you. When you kill a snake, you open the door for a lot of rodents to possibly infect you with some very nasty diseases. Respect the slithers, don’t fear them. And please, just stop the stupid fear mongering.
Spotted Owl tastes like chicken and is often used as hamburger helper ...
SOs are common in Washington state as well. The EPA claimed they lived only in Old Growth forests and specifically in the Olympic National Park and National Forest. At the time, timber companies had contracts to log in those areas, and replant afterwards. Other Parks and Forests in Washington were similarly effected.
Once the SO was deemed endangered all logging came to a halt and all wind-downed trees where required to be left untouched where they lay. Any attempts to log even near the Park or Forest was met by protesters - way up in the hard to reach places. These protesters were hippy-like characters and welfare moms as well as well-healed trust fund babies. How did they know were and when to show up? Straight out of the help wanted section in the Seattle rags - $10hr all fines and bail paid (Sierra Club, Audubon Society, American Rivers, Nature Conservancy, the Tides Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Pew Foundation - the pay masters).
These actions applied state-wide destroyed the industry leaving only logging on private lands and only in areas where no endangered SO or eagles lived. Oh yes, even though eagles are common all over the PacNW and in Alaska, they were deemed endangered by previous use of DDT (another lie) and so protected to restore the birds to “their historic habitat” as claimed by various Treaty Tribes and ‘researchers’ - who often turned out to be some college teacher’s assistant.
Despite many photos of SOs living in second growth and even in roadside billboards and farmers’ barns, they remained protected. SOs live where ever they want to live.
On a roll, the EPA then went after another bird in an obvious attempt to shut down what remained of Washington’s commercial gillnet salmon fishing fleet (after being decimated by State & Federal actions and laws in the prior decade) by declaring the Marbled Murlette endangered. The claim was once again that these birds lived only in Old Growth forests. Brachyramphus marmoratus means burrowing bird which is where the MM makes its nests. However, nothing much was known about their behavior and only one study had ever been done by a Canadian years prior.
Long story short - when salmon travel in the open water they generally are in the top 15-20 feet of the water column. Gillnetters catch most of their fish in the top few feet of their drift nets as expected, however, as a result of extensive testing wherein no MM was caught or set on, they were forced to replace the 518” mesh in the top 6 feet of their nets with 10” mesh so any bird could pass through ... and most of the fish.
Women love the idea of being protected for their lifetimes - something no man can guarantee. Women in general and many men have no idea what it is like to live and work outdoors let alone in nature. Everything that makes them feel good about themselves makes them trust that source no matter what it costs others to supply it. These are the same types of people who believe food is found in restaurants, fast food joints, and occasionally in grocery stores where it is grown.
I was hiking in northern MA during late spring last year, stopped to take in a view, and looked down to see a what I thought was just a Hognose about 3 feet away. At second glance, the arrow-shaped head without a fat neck like Hognoses have, and the eyes on it, made me think it was a half-grown rattler. Looked like it had a budding rattle on it as well, but it was coiled up and I didn't stay close enough to give it a thorough look over. In retrospect I wish I had taken some pictures.
People scoff, but I'm almost certain it was a rattlesnake. Either way, I suppose it won't be long now until I have a bona fide rattlesnake encounter right in my own backyard, thanks to the geniuses at Mass. Fish and Wildlife.
Funny thing.
Trump is leading in that state....hmmmmm
Go figure.
If they know more about anything other than snakes...they certainly know THEIR LIBERALS.
When I read this my first thought was “why is this island off-limits”?
Smokey.
Yeah, I know. I'm surrounded by libtards. Nothing much I can do about it except try to educate the odd one or two.
Critters have been going extinct since there WERE critters. It’s the Timber rattlesnake’s turn. Another variety of snake will fill its niche of gobbling up the rodent population.
[bubonic plague, anyone?]"
No ... I have it on good authority:
"You know, there's a lot of misunderstanding about rats. The rodendus vermikitis as they're called in Latin. It turns out our long tailed friend wasn't after all responsible for the dreaded bubonic plague as alleged through history. Yes, sir. It was caused by an animal called the bubon. That's right, and the threat by the way is still with us. So if anyone does see a bubon, contact your local authorities." - Cliff Clavin USPS
I am personally leading an effort (locally) to hunt the bubon into extinction. Seems they have a natural resistance to snake venom, ala the Honey Badger.
(I am happy to report that there have been no bubon sightings within a three mile radius of my home in the past year. So if you're looking for a "bubon free zone" come on by.)
It’s refreshing to see a man show up on this thread.
This is not a laughing matter.
“Rattle snakes aren’t aggressive.”
BS a Mojave Green will turn in the direction a human and deliberately approach them. They are born pissed off.
I have had more than one come after me from 20+ feet.
Someone brought a 7 footer to a skinning night at scout camp one summer in FL. The head was as big as my fist.
sigh, no they aren’t. They feel a threat, they look for cover. Your shadow looks like cover to them. They’re not after you, they’re trying to hide from you. Their eyesight isn’t that great as they rely on smell mostly for identification.
Trust me, it doesn’t want to bite you. It wants to get away from you.
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