You're a snake lover and I respect your opinion. With that being said, Michigan has it's own lyme disease vectors along the western coast line from the Ohio border to the top of the state but yet all the counties eastward have as yet no evidence of Lyme, especially since we have no rattlesnakes here in Michigan.
As much as I don't wish to disagree with you, I suspect this study from the outset was designed with the purpose to reintroduce an alleged endangered species in order to control a contrived crisis........
The connection between the eradication of CT’s rattlesnakes predates this thing they’re trying to do by quite a few years.
My point was, had CT not utterly annihilated the main vector eater, perhaps Lyme would not be everywhere, now.
Maybe we should all start propagating possums.
:)