Massachusetts committee approves snake refuge

It’s now up to the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife to decide whether timber rattlesnakes will be reintroduced onto on island in the Quabbin Reservoir in Massachusetts. That comes after an advisory board decided last night to go forward with the plan, despite some hesitation among residents. Tom Berube heads the advisory committee. He said all kinds of people came out to learn about the new plan. Whether they were just afraid of snakes, or concerned about fishing in the reservoir, most of them came around to the idea. State Biologist Tom French said the snakes would never make it off the island. If the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife approves the plan, the snakes will be bred here in Providence, at the Roger Williams Park Zoo. And when they’re grown up, they’ll be off to an uninhabited island in the Quabbin Reservoir, in Belchertown, Massachusetts.