People like this should be locked up

[Russ Lawson]

I love how almost everyone is assuming that every person in the world has experience handling hots and is comfortable doing so.

You don't need experience handling hots to throw a bucket over a snake. Thing is though, in order to kill the animal, he pinned the head. That can be pretty dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. He risked hospitalization to kill an animal that was minding its own business, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Had he placed a bucket over the animal and called someone to remove it, there would have been essentially no risk to himself. I don't care who you are, you don't need any experience with any sort of snake to place a bucket over it. I've had neighbors do far more than that before having me remove snakes. One placed a "cottonmouth" (which was actually a green water snake) in a cooler before I got there to remove it.

[Raptor]

That's..a pretty big bucket to be putting over a fully grown, 4-5 foot cotton mouth (ones that are pretty aggressive too). Don't know about where you live, but the ones here are pretty hefty in body girth. A 5 gallon bucket wouldn't be big enough, even if it was curled up. Either way, not everyone is fortunate enough to live near animal control or have someone who knows how to handle hots safely.

[NCtrickFL]

Me comparing insects to snakes is identical to people on here comparing snakes to dogs and cats. You draw the line between where normal actions against animals meets animal cruelty. Don't call me (o sorry my ideas) idiotic because you don't agree with them.

The line is completely arbitrary. Those people that love insects would call you an idiot for swatting a mosquito. They draw the line differently. Open up your eyes, your view is not everyone's view.