• Rattlesnake ally joins charge for Quabbin Reservoir habitat

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A dirt and stone road leads to Mount Zion Island, at rear, at the Quabbin Reservoir in Petersham. Photo/Massachusetts DCR
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  By Elaine Thompson
  Telegram & Gazette Staff
  

  
  Posted Jun. 14, 2016 at 7:28 PM
  Updated at 11:31 PM
  
  
  

  An Arizona-based snake conservation group has joined the forces that want to establish a colony of timber rattlesnakes on Mount Zion Island in the Quabbin Reservoir.

  Advocates for Snake Preservation, a nonprofit, is also asking for the public's help in stopping a legislative effort to stall the project. Advocates for Snake Preservation was founded by two snake experts in 2014 to promote compassionate conservation and coexistence with snakes through science, education and advocacy. Melissa Amarello, ASP co-founder and director of education, said the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife plan to release head-started timber rattlesnakes on the 1,350-acre island is scientifically sound and an important step in restoring an integral component of the local ecosystem. She said timber rattlesnakes are an important part of the state’s natural and cultural history.

  Ms. Amarello, an expert in rattlesnake social behavior, said the opposition to the plan is based solely on fears and myths about snakes. She said her group is offering scientific expertise to counteract the negative attitudes.

  “Rattlesnakes share many traits that we value in people, and timber rattlesnakes are among the most social reptiles. Females care for their young and retain lifetime close relationships with relatives,” she said.

  MassWildlife selected the site to establish a colony of the endangered reptiles after the continued decline of rattlesnake populations at the five existing Massachusetts habitats because of a fungal skin disease and the snakes being killed intentionally or unintentionally by humans. Only about 200 timber rattlesnakes are thought to exist in the state. The use of Mount Zion Island is considered an ideal location because of its size, vegetation and rock structure, and because it is off limits to the public. State officials said the plan, which uses federal grant money, would not affect public access to recreational areas in the Quabbin Reservation.

  After several public hearings, the executive office of Energy and Environmental Affairs plans to convene a working group to further discuss the plan. The Legislature's Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, co-chaired by state Sen. Anne M. Gobi, D-Spencer, has asked that implementation of the project be put on hold until the working group has concluded. The legislators want the group to address several things, including an analysis of the viability of repopulating the current existing timber rattlesnake colonies as opposed to creating a new habitat.

  The EEA "looks forward to convening a working group to collaborate with legislators, community representatives and environmental stakeholders to discuss our science-based plan to relocate a small population of endangered species to Mount Zion Island ... without jeopardizing public safety or access to open space," EEA spokesman Peter Lorenz said via email Tuesday.

  Ms. Gobi, who opposes the current plan, said contrary to what Ms. Amarello says, she does not have a fear of snakes.

  "We currently have five colonies with rattlesnakes. It seems to me that we should not start a new area, but find ways to preserve and conserve them there," she said.
  

  Advocates for Snake Preservation is also leading a coalition of about 19 groups of biologists and conservationists in Massachusetts who support the project, and wants to remove an amendment to the fiscal 2017 budget filed by state Sen. Eric P. Lesser, D-Longmeadow. The amendment would put the project on hold for at least one year. They also oppose a requirement in the amendment that any future conservation efforts be approved by the Legislature. Advocates for Snake Preservation is asking the public to sign a petition at www.livingwithsnakes.org that asks to remove the amendment so the project can go forward.

  Barbara Kickham of Shrewsbury, president of the Lake Quinsigamond Watershed Association, said her group supports the project because members are following the lead of MassWildlife and EEA Secretary Matthew A. Beaton, who think it’s a good plan.

  “We’ve tried to restore the rattlesnake habitat in the past several decades to continue with the existing locations and it hasn’t recovered,” she said. “The experts have already studied it. It seems like now is the time to try something new. We want to keep biodiversity.”