Colorado man dies after bite from Gila monster he illegally kept as a pet

[Bogertophis]

"Because people (including law enforcement) aren't able to tell venomous from non-venomous, so in their mind it comes down to 'let's make them all illegal'-"

That totally makes me think of a school, I know it is technically off topic but it brings more to your point of people being stubborn about reptiles and differences. I was able to bring Beans there to "practice" programs. I was able to teach people about him and snakes (some people got over their extreme phobias of snakes with his help). In the process I could get better at speaking about him and get him used to it as well while minimizing stress by making his appearances very rare and taking all your other program precautions like limits and how long the snake is out of the carrier. There was no problem and everyone loved him being there but then a lady who worked there one day a week was scared of him and convinced the whole admin team, on her behalf, that he was a danger. I was told he needed to be kept in his carrier at all times except for in one class, which was being done already. Then suddenly he was banned from the school entirely for being dangerous (he obviously isn't and never bit or harmed a soul except for maybe hers... maybe he looked at her funny) and a threat to those with allergies. Apparently the same lady introduced a new idea to wipe out all animals from the school because of allergies, but hypoallergenic animals were still banned because they didn't want arguments about what is or isn't hypoallergenic which is not something exactly... debatable. It shows the lengths people go to for their own fears, and the laziness of some people to learn things or get over that fear.

I'm sorry that happened to you & Beans- education is contagious, but unfortunately, so are closed-minds. Animal-haters love to claim to be allergic too. The problem is that our planet has a web of life basis- life forms are connected to one another, in terms of survival, & when people don't care about wiping out some of them, they are too ignorant to realize it can come back to "bite" their own existence. I think biology courses should be required in high school, but these days, apparently they don't even require civics, & boy does it show. It's frustrating, & I feel like our society is going backwards, even while some percent continues to make great progress. I'm glad you tried, at least. We all have to keep trying.