Woo Hoo! Four more down!

[B.O.S Reptiles]

Hello. One of the most important parts about owning reptiles, especially ones that are perceived as scarey, deadly, etc, such as snakes, is changing peoples minds and helping them get over their fears. I am fairly new to reptiles, but with what I DO know I have changed the way a lot of people look at snakes. Anyways, there is a park across the street from my house, which is fairly dead, so I don't have to worry about people getting in my snakes faces all the time and stressing them. I take all my snakes (Except for my Normal BCI. I'm letting him get used to his home because he's kind of a meanie). My Dumeril's is quite out of shape so I took her to the park just to kind of try and get her a "work out", and the trip didn't seem to stress her out, so that was awesome. I let her crawl on the ground, she ventured into a few trees, and eventually ended up at the playground (there was only four people at the park, and we're about to get to them). There's a big spider web looking thing for the kids to climb on and she decided that looked fun. So I let her play on there for a while, and they (the family of four) stayed very far away! It was two adults and two small children (maybe 6-8 years old). I could hear the adults yelling "stay away from that snake!! It's poisonous". That got on my nerves, because what you say to children about animals, they will keep with them for life, so it's unfair to say that. So my friend stayed with Duma, and I approached the family. Not to be rude, only to let them know that Duma is NOT poisonous, and not a danger to them, however, if she was making them uncomfortable, we didn't mind moving further down. The two kids were very very interested. The kept kicking their soccer ball near us, And then coming to eye the snake, and kept saying "we're just getting our ball, mom!!" Lol. So eventually after I stopped paying attention, the family came to me, still staying about 15 feet away, and asked what kind of snake it was, etc, etc.. Eventually they let their kids pet the snake, and even took pictures of their kids petting her. I told them that I own more, and the boy replied "can we bring her home as a pet and you can just have the rest of your snakes?" Lol! And as they started to leave, I thanked them for coming over, and I asked if they were still afraid of snakes. They all said "no"! As they grabbed their stuff the mom asked if there were any smaller snakes that would be good to start with, if they wanted a pet snake. So I told them to look up Corn Snakes and Ball Pythons! I was really happy that they wanted one by time they left I have never felt any better feeling than changing someones mind about snakes. I just love the way it feels because of how feared they are (for no reason!). It really is great. Especially because the children are the future. If no kids are afraid of snakes, than they can teach their kids not to be afraid, etc. Anyways... I just wanted to share this newest accomplishment. I have already changed a few minds, but it wasn't relevant until now. Hopefully I can do some sort of school presentations at some point in my life. I'm guessing I'd need some special sort of insurance or something, though? Anyways.. Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear similar stories from other people here!