Massachusetts plans rattlesnake colony on uninhabited island

BOSTON (AP) — A plan by the state to establish a colony of venomous timber rattlesnakes on an off-limits island in Massachusetts' largest body of water has some rattled by visions of dangerous serpents slithering through the surrounding woods, attacking hikers, fishermen and hunters.

French said he's received several emails and phone calls from worried residents who fear the snakes will escape the island.

"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.

Nancy Allen, chairwoman of the selectboard in Petersham, a town on the eastern shore of the reservoir, said she heard from fearful residents when the plan became public, but those fears died down once people educated themselves about the project.

Peter Mallett, a recreational fisherman who lives in New Salem, a town on the Quabbin's western shore, opposed the snake project at first, but changed his mind after digging deeper.