I am writing to correct some misinformation in an April 27 guest column by Rob Weir regarding the plan to use an island on Quabbin Reservoir as a refuge for the Massachusetts native endangered timber rattlesnakes.
Weir states that bald eagles repopulated the state without human assistance. This is not true. The eagle population in the state was decimated by the use of DDT at the beginning of the last century. Starting in 1982, the Department Fish and Game in conjunction with Quabbin Reservoir raised and released 41 eagles at Quabbin Reservoir.
The method is called hacking. Eagles were collected from states with healthy populations when they were a few weeks old and were reared in cages on the shores of Quabbin then released. This allowed them to imprint Quabbin as their home.
The first eagles born in the state since early 1900s were hatched at Quabbin in 1989 from one of the first released pairs named by staff Betsy and Ross. This very successful program has repopulated the state with eagles and this spring we have seven nesting pairs at Quabbin alone.
In addition to eagles the reappearing wildlife populations at Quabbin are monitored and nurtured. Quabbin is one of the few places in the state with breeding loons. To help them along Quabbin banned the use of lead weights for fishing and builds nesting platforms (rafts) to help the loons cope with changing water levels.
It seems to me that since human activity has greatly impacted wildlife populations, the least we can do is give them a helping hand when we can. Quabbin is the single largest area of protected land in the state. I think we have room to accommodate a few rattlesnakes, another native species almost eradicated due to human activity.
Bill Pula
Pelham