While I agree that rattles arent particularly aggressive unless provoked or suprised. Its rather silly to harbor deadly species in such a heavily used public park.
Certainly true, but I get tired of the "no personal responsibility" crowd. Let's face it, biking, rock climbing, swimming, just about any outdoor activity is dangerous. Today it seems you can't even hike in a natural area without a bizilion signs indicating the potential dangers for fear of a lawsuit. You need only 1 sign, "Enter at your own risk". Humans are a smart bunch, they will catch on!
First, it's 6 MILLION acres. Second, the more snakes, bears, lions, chupacabre, etc... you have in the outdoors the more likely they are to weed out the stupid for us...
I woud add grizzlies, mountain lions, buffalo, tigers, pythons, cobras, skunks, piranas, polar bears and alligators to any park heavily used by New Yorkers.