One thing I always mention to people that question us having snakes and kids in the same home is this. How many dog bites were reported last year? How many of those were from the beloved family dog? Now how many kids were chewed on by somebody's pet snake?

They stop and think for a moment and the lightbulb goes off. The fact is kids are at far more risk from Fido snapping over his favorite toy than a snake carefully kept and handled appropriately. People are just used to dog bites/nips and really don't think about how common they are when you mix dogs and kids. They aren't used to the concept of snakes as pets so any word of "bite" and they freak a bit.

Another thing I hear a lot is to do with salmonella and reptiles. I always inform those people of our normal hygiene rules and remind them to go read the CDC site. While salmonella can occur with reptile keeping you are still statistically at far more risk having a burger at a fast food place or from the nasty things that grow on most people kitchen countertops or cutting board.

Some humans are just like that though. Anything outside of what they know, what their comfort zone is, is foreign, odd and something to be afraid of so therefore they must control it with silly laws instead of using the grey matter between their own ears.