Anyone else get like this? (Sorta depressing topic)

[Bogertophis]

Snakes come into this world with instincts that initially work against them being pets- that is, everything is either predator or prey, or maybe "neither" & just something to be ignored. And they react accordingly when handled, showing fear & self-defense. But just as in nature, where they must learn their way around & find hiding places to survive heat, cold & predation, we're just another thing they learn to deal with in their instinctive efforts to stay safe, keep eating & hopefully to reproduce.

We'll never know precisely what they think of us, & that's okay- humans have been reading into the minds of dogs, cats & horses for centuries, & the more time goes on, the more we find out that yes, many animals have more brains & awareness than we previously thought. Horses & dogs, for example, are pretty good at reading human facial expressions, even as we're busy reading theirs.

The charge often leveled at snake intelligence often has to do with brain size, but that's not something with a direct correlation, because snakes have a much simpler body to control (no limbs, etc), & some brains are far more efficient than others- it's not directly the result of size alone. Snakes clearly can remember- otherwise I'd have to re-tame my snakes every time I make contact...right? But even when I don't handle some snakes for a long while, they don't forget they're safe with me- they still obviously know & accept me- they don't revert to "wild".

The big objection to "anthropomorphism" by the scientific community has mellowed in recent years, as we've learned more about what some animals are capable of. I also think that it's partly due to the way humans generally put themselves on a pedestal- and while it's true that we can do many things that animals so far cannot, we're also the most destructive force on the planet. No members of the animal kingdom can detonate atomic bombs & none of them mess up the environment the way we do. (How "smart" is that?) So we should keep ourselves in perspective, don't you think?

And that's why I give snakes the "benefit of the doubt". It feels right to me to keep an open mind rather than trying to say they absolutely can't or don't have certain abilities that we can't prove. They often appear to do goofy things, but if we had the same limits (poor eyesight, deaf & no limbs) how smart would we look? And how long would we last?