anyone ever kept venomous?

Well im 25 now, but as a kid from about 12 to 15 i have kept multiple snakes ranging from copperheads to cottonmouths, not for long though about 2 weeks i would keep them in a tank then let them go...my infatuation with snakes started early. even before that i caught snakes but always let them go...but untill recently i never really cared about a snake as a individual as my baby bp....this little guy is awesome and doesnt try to eat me when i pick him up...just wondering how many people caught wild snakes before thet got their bp.....cant really say 12 to 15 because i caught a 2 foot copperhead about 8 months ago that i kept for about 2 weeks but let it go in the woods

I've been catching snakes my whole life. I've caught countless garter snakes, water snakes, etc. The problem is that I live in Wisconsin...there isn't many dangerous snakes up here. We have a few very small areas that have some rattlers but there aren't many and coming across one is very rare. Whenever I'm in those areas I do my best to find one, but never have been able too. I've always wanted to catch a venomous snake, just don't really have the opportunity to try...but perhaps thats a good thing haha.

My grandfather managed to catch a rattlesnake when I was 10 years old, he let me pet it and we kept him in a box till the nearest reptile rescue agreed to pick him up and place him in a better and safer area, at least thats what they told me they did, I can only imagine what else. Otherwise I never mess with the snakes that can kill me with venom, funny I know, but I prefer constrictors and BPs, at least some of them are tame-ish haha.

I have to be completely honest with you, keeping venomous without proper training or licensing is one of the most irresponsible things you can do. If you had been bitten than you would have been one of the statistics that makes the herp hobby look bad. Stuff like this is what keeps the legal battles uphill.

There are a handful of beautiful adders and/or rattlesnakes that I would love to keep as display animals. But not until after many hours of training from a licensed handler.