Very well said bcr! And thanks for the shoutout.

One thing that I have noticed with people is that many are willing to change their minds about snakes.

For instance, I have over 10 snakes and whenever people come over for get-togethers or parties at my house we always have to take multiple trips down to the snake room to show everyone the snakes. The kids especially (who have not had as much time to soak in the misconceptions of our society) will often want to hold the snakes and after a few visits, even the ones who were deathly afraid before will hold a snake.

Its not as easy changing the minds of adults but even so, I feel better about at least getting some of their facts straight. (One time, I had someone TELL me that my adult ball python was a baby and that it was going to grow to be 20 ft long )

Needless to say even though many people that know my family still don't necessarily LIKE the snakes, they certainly are no longer afraid of them and many of them will join the group of excited kids coming to see the snakes downstairs.

Not being afraid to talk about your snakes is big. I can't tell you how many times I've constructively argued why snakes CAN be pets and why they are NOT dangerous when the owner is responsible. Although not everyone will admit they are wrong, knowing your facts and arguing effectively but politely can change a lot of people's perceptions. (One of my favorite bits of fun fact is that every year on average more people are killed in the US by vending machines than by any snakes - venomous included)