Cops episode - killing a harmless snake

[coldblooded]

Unfortunately, the common mentality is "The only good snake, is a dead snake". Many people don't care what the are and they'd rather not find out, they just want it dead.

It's sad, but the best that we can do as a community is try to educate people whenever we can. We have to be responsible and show them the good sides of these animals, not the dark, vile one that the media likes to make up. We also have to show them that we as a community are not a bunch of disturbed individuals but we are just people that love our pets and hobby.

Also thought I'd mention that these cops live in Florida, where you'd think they would have more experience & knowledge with snakes - venemous or not. The cop who bashed the snake even said himself "We get piles of these in our yard all the time, and either kill them or chase them away." If you had constant sightings of a particular snake at your home, wouldn't you take a minute to educate yourself on them? If nothing else, just to make sure it wasn't a threat to your family?

I live in San Francisco, where it would be highly unusual to see a wild snake wandering around... but living in a place like Florida, it would behoove them to get a bit of education on reptiles. When I lived in Lake Tahoe, we spotted a young bear in our apartment complex - that one sighting was enough to make me do a little research, and learn about the critters who shared our land (not limited to bears). Common sense, ya know?