ignorant people!!!

littlepretty · #1 (**permalink**) 07-04-2005, 05:20 AM

I just need to get this out of my system. I took my son fishing and some of my boyfriends friends were there. After we were done fishing we walked around looking under rocks and in holes in the bank looking for snakes. We found a shed from a large non-venimous snake, so we went looking for the snake. One of the guys that were there let out a scream that made me think he had been hurt somehow. I ran over to him his other friends go to him before me and I heard one of them yell " it's a snake kill it" I yelled to them to leave it alone but they smashed it with a rock before I could do anything. I told them they were ignorant and they told me the only good snake is a dead snake! It was a harmless northern watersnake. I was so mad and my son was crying because he loves sankes he, names every one we find on our "snake trips".He is almost 4 and can point out just about every species we have here, he even corrected me once when I was identifying a black rat I thought it was a racer. The people around here think all snakes should be exterminated. I wish there was some way to educate the people in this area on the importance of snakes.I am sorry for the long rambeling I am so upset. I don't understand why people think they must kill the snakes.I saw a person in a truck swerve into the wrong lane just to run over a black rat snake. It is so sad.

chrispaine · #2 (**permalink**) 07-04-2005, 05:47 AM

ya thats just stupid... people are stupid, and their isnt anything you can do about it, so am i tho, i dont like spiders and would like them all dead ha, (sorry if you feel different) but i dont kill everyone i see, just the ones in my house ha.. i hate all bugz but hey i dont think we could do with out them, snakes are inportant too!!! thats why i think its kida funny when people get bit by snakes when they are mess'n with them... cause the snake kills the human in that round. sick i know ha.

lisagordier · #3 (**permalink**) 07-04-2005, 03:04 PM

littlepretty,
I know how you feel. It's one reason I go out with my snake so people can see that they're not as "dangerous" as they think. Snakes just do snake things. Your story also reminded me about a show I was watching on Animal Planet regarding "snakebites". But they also went into other things such as the snake round-ups around the country for rattlesnakes. (just so you know the show also spoke with snake experts who told the other side) For these people you just wish they understood the consequenses of taking so many snakes out of the local environement.

Yep, there are a lot of really stupid people out there.

Jem_Scout · #4 (**permalink**) 07-04-2005, 03:39 PM

How sad....sorry your boy had to be there to witness their ignorance!

haroldo359 · #5 (**permalink**) 07-04-2005, 03:52 PM

that is really sad.

just do what you can to educate people. it took me years to get my dad to stop killing every snake he saw. but you can't change everyone.

steph86 · #6 (**permalink**) 07-04-2005, 03:58 PM

I have to agree that that is sad.I use to really hate being around snakes until i met my boyfriend. He has a RTB and at first i was not so sure about her but now i love her to death. It just sucks that ppl can be so cruel about something they don't know much about. I look at it this way...if u don't like it then leave it alone or just walk away.

buck2003 · #7 (**permalink**) 07-04-2005, 04:50 PM

I with Nora on this!

brownsfan222 · #8 (**permalink**) 07-04-2005, 04:56 PM

where i go hunting at there are many snakes, my uncle shot one because he is terribly afraid of them. I told him he was mean and that if he saw anymore to tell me and i would let it go down the road

TheOtherAndy · #9 (**permalink**) 07-04-2005, 05:13 PM

We may be slightly predisposed to fear snakes. It's said that baby baboons are born fearing only two things: falling and snakes. Pretty common people phobias too, aren't they? I have unreasonable dislikes myself, like rodents. I raise them, I know they're clean and docile and rarely bite. But I hate touching them all the same. I know there is no reason to be leery of dealing with them (and since I have to regardless, its not exactly convenient). I'm fairly well educated about rodents, and I'm certainly exposed to them on a daily basis.

I'm not sure you can 'educate' a fear of snakes out of people. But you can stress what an important role they (as well as spiders and moles and whatever animals herpers probably kill on sight

) play in their environments. I think walking around out with a snake where people aren't really expecting to run into one harms the image of snake keepers more than it helps the general public's perception of snakes. In that regard, those Animal Planet shows (which I'm no fan of) probably do more good than we can by walking around town with a boa draped across your shoulders.

StevenLeeAugust · #10 (**permalink**) 07-04-2005, 07:09 PM

You guys mention hunting and fishing, two “Sports” in which people take pleasure in hurting animals. That is not wrong but what they did to that snake is? I don’t get it. I guess I’m the ignorant one.

Steve

Cornholio · #11 (**permalink**) 07-05-2005, 10:02 AM

i agree with lethargiic

momakat · #12 (**permalink**) 07-05-2005, 04:06 PM

Littlepretty - I agree with the sentiment here that what those 'men' did was totally wrong. It's even more unfortunate that your son had to witness this - on the other side it's also a good thing he learns that there really are ignorant and stupid people out there. Of course it would have been better to learn it later and not so young.

Lethargic - what a grand idea!!!

I would also like to take this time to say that IMHO we are not born disposed to fear anything. I was afraid of nothing as a child - until my parents (particularly my father) reacted violently to my playing with spiders. I am quite afraid of them now but have learned to control my fear . . . most of the time. They never taught me to be afraid of snakes and by the time I started playing with the little garden snakes out back it was too late to teach me to fear them. hehehe My own children had no fear of anything - and I tried to be careful not to pass my 'phobias' on to them. My youngest wants to eventually get some tarantulas in addition to the several snakes she now owns. My oldest doesn't really like snakes - we lived in a place where we could find rattlers in the middle of our dirt roads. I would yell at her and the other kids for playing in the ditches and under the road in a culvert. aaaack! Anyway - this got longer than intended.

Steve - hunting and fishing is not always a sport for pleasure. Sometimes it is a necessity as it was for me for many years. It could make a difference between a good year and a bad year for us. And I never practiced 'trophy' hunting - I was looking for food for my kids and nothing else. It's not all for pleasure.

Ok - off my soapbox - and ready to put Lethargic's idea into effect . . .

littlepretty · #13 (**permalink**) 07-08-2005, 01:44 AM

We were fishing for minnows to feed to our snakes at home and we took a blue gill to live a life of luxury in our home pond, plenty of room to swim and he will never have to worry about not being able to find food. I don't kill anything I find outdoors I have never even eaten a fish as a child when my family went camping. I just can't do it, everything has a right to live. I don't think you should kill anything unless you need it to survive.(or your snakes need it!!!)

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