Page 1 of 1

Quabbin Reservoir Rattlesnake Project, MA

Posted: March 8th, 2016, 6:48 pm
by James Condon
This is an interesting topic, and has stirred up a bit of controversy. Mass. wants to introduce timbers to an island in the Quabbin, where they will be relatively undisturbed by and inaccessible to people. It's an interesting idea, and has the locals running for their snake shot shells. A group of people started a petition on change.org to stop the project. The associated Facebook page was interesting at first, but quickly got out of control and the moderators have decided to ban everyone who comments in favor of snakes. They have no interest in learning anything about timber rattlesnakes. A counter-petition was generated, and the pro signatures have now exceeded the anti signatures. I expect the final outcome will have important implications for rattlesnake conservation everywhere. There have been many stories in the press.


Here's the state page on the project:
http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/df ... ation.html

Here's the pro-petition, please sign if it makes sense to you. This will give the MassWildlife people something to present as a counter-argument:
https://www.change.org/p/tom-french-hel ... utm_source

And associated facebook page. I am not sure who is running the Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Petition-to-He ... 2/?fref=ts

In the interest of democracy, here's the Anti petition:
https://www.change.org/p/gov-charles-ba ... nd-project

And their (now very exclusive) Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Petition-to-St ... 291701303/

Re: Quabbin Reservoir Rattlesnake Project, MA

Posted: March 9th, 2016, 10:46 am
by TravisK
OMG,

Image

So flawed.... so awfully flawed....


GOD, Can we have the Apocalypse yet? We really need it. There isn't much more subduing this planet can take.

Re: Quabbin Reservoir Rattlesnake Project, MA

Posted: March 9th, 2016, 2:57 pm
by James Condon
Yes TravisK, unfortunately it looks like that. It is nothing new. Many people have fear of snakes, especially venomous snakes. It is possible that we are actually born with this, an evolutionary vestige from our time spent as monkeys! But that was a long time ago. If you think this project is worth a try, please sign the petition to support. Keep in mind that this "voting" is nothing like a referendum on the issue. It is simply a social media reaction to the plan. Most likely, this plan will go forward. But who knows?

Re: Quabbin Reservoir Rattlesnake Project, MA

Posted: March 15th, 2016, 3:23 pm
by ebit123
I was excited to read about this project. Wonderful to bring an species population back from the brink of extirpation. However , some of the comments on the local media pages have me fuming!

Re: Quabbin Reservoir Rattlesnake Project, MA

Posted: March 21st, 2016, 8:29 am
by mikez
As a fellow Ma resident, I can vouch for the hateful climate here. I personally got in over my head in a fishing forum when it got personal.

The hate sucks but can't be easily countered.

What I'm curious on is what folks here think of the natural history point of view. Can it work?

Also do those pettetions do anything? Should I post that on a couple FB pages that might turn out a signature or two?

Re: Quabbin Reservoir Rattlesnake Project, MA

Posted: March 21st, 2016, 12:17 pm
by Kyle from Carolina
comment removed.

Re: Quabbin Reservoir Rattlesnake Project, MA

Posted: March 21st, 2016, 2:03 pm
by James Condon
I suggest signing the petition of your choice, it can't hurt.
Also, to go a step further, you could send your thoughts on the matter to the guy in charge, via email or letter:

Matthew A. Beaton
Secretary, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
[email protected]
617-626-1015
100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900
Boston, MA 02114

Check out Howie Carr's enlightened perspective on the topic here:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/column ... r_serpents

Re: Quabbin Reservoir Rattlesnake Project, MA

Posted: March 22nd, 2016, 6:05 am
by James Condon
Here are some of the emails that have been sent to MassWildlife

https://d3gn0r3afghep.cloudfront.net/fo ... 74_RES.pdf

Re: Quabbin Reservoir Rattlesnake Project, MA

Posted: March 23rd, 2016, 10:55 am
by mikez
I know Ma had a head start thing going with black rat snakes. It was very low key and used amateurs to raise the snakes. I don't know how successful it was or if its still going on. I think NEHS may have or did have something on their website.

I be interested to hear more on that for perspective on the timber project. Probably somebody reading this can fill us in.

Re: Quabbin Reservoir Rattlesnake Project, MA

Posted: March 24th, 2016, 5:04 pm
by Coluber Constrictor
.

Re: Quabbin Reservoir Rattlesnake Project, MA

Posted: March 24th, 2016, 5:06 pm
by Coluber Constrictor
.

Re: Quabbin Reservoir Rattlesnake Project, MA

Posted: March 25th, 2016, 6:40 am
by Kyle from Carolina
comment removed.

Re: Quabbin Reservoir Rattlesnake Project, MA

Posted: May 3rd, 2017, 8:20 am
by Jeffreyrichard
As of April 20, this plan is now dead ... http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/04/19/m ... residents/

Re: Quabbin Reservoir Rattlesnake Project, MA

Posted: May 5th, 2017, 11:41 am
by Bryan Hamilton
I count timber rattlesnakes among the most gentle creatures on earth. It's disappointing to see fear and ignorance prevail over science, based conservation.

Re: Quabbin Reservoir Rattlesnake Project, MA

Posted: May 19th, 2017, 8:01 pm
by ebit123
Jeffreyrichard wrote:As of April 20, this plan is now dead ... http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/04/19/m ... residents/
I had read elsewhere that they were going to introduce the timber rattlesnakes that had been destined for the quabbin island into areas in western mass ....less resistance as less populated there?