People like this should be locked up

MELBOURNE, Florida — A 53-year-old welder on Merritt Island couldn't wait for animal control to handle a six-foot rattlesnake.

Instead, Robert Tyler took care of it himself.

Tyler spotted the diamondback rattler Wednesday while driving, then stalked it.

He said he came up behind the snake, pinned its head and cut it off with a knife.

The man, who says he has also wrestled the occasional alligator, did it to protect his neighbors. The snake was headed for a home where a woman lived with several small kittens.

Tyler knew it would've been gone by the time animal services got there.

"I couldn't take that chance," Tyler says.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...,7478077.story

Was the snake holding up a sign telling him it was going to kill one of his neighbors???

it sucks really it does and people like him should be locked up damn the animal welfare act not seeing reptiles as equals to mammals ugh I absolutely hate this crap had it been a dog he would have landed in jail and a huge fine. ABSURD IT IS!

well, i see no problem being it was a venomous snake potentially heading towards another home. my dad used to kill rattlesnakes (maybe 3-4) every year, if they came too close to the house. he just wouldnt chance one of us kids getting bitten. now king snakes & red racers he'd throw back into the brush. he didnt just willy nilly kill every snake he saw.

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Originally Posted by mommanessy247

well, i see no problem being it was a venomous snake potentially heading towards another home. my dad used to kill rattlesnakes (maybe 3-4) every year, if they came too close to the house. he just wouldnt chance one of us kids getting bitten. now king snakes & red racers he'd throw back into the brush. he didnt just willy nilly kill every snake he saw.

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why not just tell the kids to stay away from them, cuz he wouldnt be able to find and kill everyone that they might come across, but by educating the kids your more likely to keep them safe

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Originally Posted by mommanessy247

well, i see no problem being it was a venomous snake potentially heading towards another home.

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This sort of mentality (along with the irrational phobia of snakes by the majority of the population), is why we're seeing a decreased number of venomous snakes in the wild in the US. It saddens me that people think nothing of killing these beautiful animals when it requires less effort to call someone who could relocate them. If he's worried about it getting away before someone gets there, it's really not hard to put a bucket or something over the snake, then put a rock or something on top to make sure it stays put.

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Originally Posted by Russ Lawson

This sort of mentality (along with the irrational phobia of snakes by the majority of the population), is why we're seeing a decreased number of venomous snakes in the wild in the US. It saddens me that people think nothing of killing these beautiful animals when it requires less effort to call someone who could relocate them. If he's worried about it getting away before someone gets there, it's really not hard to put a bucket or something over the snake, then put a rock or something on top to make sure it stays put.

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Yeah exactly. If he pinned it down and cut its head off, I am sure he could of just pinned it down and trapped it just as easily. With a bucket, or just held it down for the time being however he was holding it.

Its so screwed up that people are allowed to slaughter these animals.

Sorry I love snakes, but danger is danger. I would rather him kill the snake than get bitten trying to trap it. Human life comes first. And I know the snake wasn't attacking the people, but some kid could have stepped outside onto it and been bit.

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Originally Posted by NCtrickFL

Sorry I love snakes, but danger is danger. I would rather him kill the snake than get bitten trying to trap it. Human life comes first. And I know the snake wasn't attacking the people, but some kid could have stepped outside onto it and been bit.

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your 21 and live around several hots have you stepped outside on one and been bit? how many people that you know personally have been bit? and im willing to bet that people in your area have not killed them all off.

dogs, cats, birds, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, etc all can bite and can all carry some diseases that can kill you but yet people dont go out and kill everyone that is around cuz some kid might get bit.

I would kill a rattler near my home as well. Yes, I think that the death of animals is a shame, but as mentioned before, the life of my family comes first.
I agree that education is important too, but I don't teach an 8 year old about gun safety and then leave the gun around. And I would NOT want that snake breeding in the area either.
If I felt somehow that I could catch the snake, contain it properly and have it transported to distant farmland somewhere, I might try that. If I was worried about my own safety as I have never handled a rattler, and probably never will, I would not wait to call some kind of animal services to come to my house and tell me that they could not find it.
I don't think it'll happen to me, but that's how I feel.

Edit: I would kill a racoon or dog with rabies too if I knew they had it. No problem. Not all mammals or birds have those types of diseases. All rattle snakes have venom. Like I said, it is a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless.

Snakes are in an area for 1 reason, there is a food source. You want to naturally take care of that dangerous snake? Release a non-dangerous snake that will EAT that snake ie a Kingsnake.