Along with the "Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww" reaction you get when people find out that you have snakes, I've noticed another reaction, usually delayed for weeks or even months, and it happened again last night via a Facebook message from a friend...

"Hey, my kid's boyfriend's sister's best friend has a snake and doesn't want it any more. Can you take it?"


Ok, I have dogs. I don't hear this request from people who need to rehome their dogs. I also don't hear it from people who have cats (maybe because I have dogs?). I also have horses, but have never been offered a free one, probably because anyone who owns a horse knows that even free ones are expensive.


So, why is it that if I "keep snakes" it immediately follows that I'm interested in taking on everyone else's unwanted, sick, mite-infested, rat-chewed, underweight, neglected animal?


Being the sucker that I am, I ask what kind.


"I don't know. I'll find out."


Something tells me it ain't gonna be a banana BP, or even a female. Though the normal male BP I took in from a kid going to college did turn out to be a female, so maybe I'll get lucky.