Teaching kids about venomous snakes

[Emily Hubbard]

it's the fear that brings out the shovel to kill the monster snake.

I couldn't agree more. Fear masked by a superiority complex. I have heard people say, "I kill them so they don't bite my dogs!!" and I am just dying to say, "Firstly, a dog that gets bit is retarded (and I have had a dog get bit, so I am authorized to make that statement. He was indeed the dumbest one alive.) And since when do your dogs have more right to exist than that snake?" So many people just don't understand and view snakes as something that will "come after" them. I tried so hard to show my ball python to my very phobic relatives in a safe, secure, happy way. They trembled in front of the glass, but as soon as I put my hand out to slid it open, they leaped back and out of the room. In their mind, my sweet little BP would have shot out of the tank and latched onto their face.

People think the same thing about rattlesnakes, that they are sitting in the TREES waiting to pounce on them. I think people actually give snakes WAY too much credit, making them into these conniving, evil, plotting creatures. Any snake, be it a harmless colubrid or deadly viper wants to eat and not be eaten, and a safe place to curl up at the end of the day. Just leave them alone and there is nothing dangerous about them!