people SUCK!!!

[csnake]

When people find out that i keep reptiles, they always ask if i have any snakes. And so i go through the list of my collection, and then the people or person's tell me stories about snakes they they or someone they knew killed, dismembered, smushed, etc. And it really pisses me off because 1) it's ignorant and 2) it's just stupid how they will unwillingly kill an animal who has done nothing to them.

Or they tell me that they have a relative that really hates snakes, and kills them when ever they see one. Or that they will play tricks on people that don't like them by putting a snake in their car or something like that.

If you think about it, it would be like me asking someone about their cats, and telling them that i throw rocks on them and shoot them if they are in my backyard.

I'm sorry, but i had to get this off my chest.

p.s.
When i ask the person why they would do that to a snake their answer is almost always "what does it matter? they're just snakes."

[reptiledude2]

thats not kool most people that io know that know i have snakes dont reallycare some like them and some dont

[robin]

i will try and educate foljs at work about reptiles and why they are good and about venom and different little tid bits... but its a stereotype from old mixxed with old wivestails, tall tails... i mean yeah people suck but if they dont know any better, thats why i try and ecucate them and base it on scientific knowledge.............
like ya know ya hear an out landish story of an 8 foot copperhead that smelled of cucumbers and chased a man through three counties. i basiclly tell em the scent might be musk, that coppers dont get that big and that generally they are not agressive and mainly just want to get away. i also inform them of our local hots and how distinctive they are.... and just back off and let em go on there way... i also bring the point up
would you rather have an over abundance of rodents? or snakes that ya dont see that often....
i dont know about you but i hate mice LOL they stink and do alot of damage more than a snake hehehe
every once in a while someone will come up and say "hey robin, you'll be so proud i came upon a snake yesterday and i slowly walked away and let it be"
now, some of the people at work know i keep some reptiles but thats it, no details. i try and keep my animals in healthy conditions but i also handle them correctly and i do not take them out in public and "flaunt" them.... (irrespoinsible keeping IMHO)
people are scared of what they dont know.
all we can do is educate these people... and hope they actually listen and hear even a tad bit of what we are saying. And maybe just maybe the next time they see a snake they just back off and let it go on its way and then mumble under their breaths (ohh i really hate snakes, sick gross"..... hey its a step in the right direction

[Russ]

I agree that it sucks that people kill snakes. My friend, Matt, and I live kinda out in the middle of nowhere, and we tell anyone who finds a snake by their house to call us to come remove it. But still, some of them just grab their shotgun and blow the hell out of them. It makes me sick. Matt's friend's stepfather just happened to notice a big eastern diamondback rattler across the street in an orange grove, so he went and got his shotgun and blew a chunk out of it. Well it just so happened to be a gravid female, so the babies all squirmed out of the hole in their mother and he proceeded to shoot all of them too. Then he actually had the nerve to bring it over and show Matt his "trophy." If I was there, I would have went off on the guy. You just don't do that, the snake wasn't posing any threat to anyone where it was, and he was informed about the snakes.