Killing things for no particularly good reason is idiotic.

[NuclearNed]

Like most people, I'm not a snake lover. I'm not a tree-hugging hippie either. But a couple of things happened this weekend that bothered me a lot.

1. There is a trail that runs through the woods adjacent to the town where I live. This trail is our town's "linear park", and is used by joggers, walkers, etc. It runs parallel to a creek, so as one would expect there are a lot of snakes. A couple of days ago there was a tiny harmless snake in the path, so I got a stick to shoo it off to somewhere safe. Walking down the path was a man and his two kids *cough* rednecks *cough*. As soon as the kids saw what I was doing, one of them ran up to me and asked if he could kill the snake. Huh? Why would you want to do that?

2. A couple of days later I found a little dead snake on the path. At a quick glance, it would have been easy for anyone who knows anything about snakes to determine that is was not venomous and was completely harmless. Somone had crushed its head. I can't help but think that someone killed it for no better reason than because it was a snake.

Ignorance manifested like this makes me crazy mad.

 

[GarlicBreath]

It's some old-timey thing. My Dad (71 years old) is like that. He's not a redneck, either. Dad sees a snake = instant snake death. No matter what kind of snake. My Dad's buddies are like that, too.

Once when I was a kid, Dad and I were fishing from a boat. A snake was swimming at the surface, coming right by the boat. I was really fascinated with the serpentine swimming motion and said:

"Hey! Cool! Look at th...."

THWACK

Dad broke the snake's back with his fishing rod. I was stunned, as I'd never before (or since) seen my dad do anything like that. He's not an animal lover, but I've never known him to be cruel to animals. Except for snakes, I guess.

 

[archiloco]

yup...i hear ya.........it just seems that sometimes people are so used to doing stupid stuff for no apparent reason.

 

[moshquerade]

snakes represent satan therefore people by reflex strike out at them.

 

[allisolm]

Walking down the path was a man and his two kids *cough* rednecks *cough*.


Ignorance manifested like this makes me crazy mad.

 

[CrackRabbit]

I think it comes from the fact that people are scared of venomous/poisonus things. there are just a handfull of different types of venomous snakes in North America and most will slither off before attacking, but as children most people are taught to fear all snakes because of the possibily that it might be a venomous one. A good lesson to keep a kid out of the emergency room.
But, people being people, most don't take the time to learn later on in life exacly which snakes to be careful of and which ones are mostly harmless.
The same could be said for spiders, and a few other creatures.

 

[Linflas]

I am pretty much live and let live with anything. I don't even kill the moles in our yard.

 

[Juice Box]

Originally posted by: allisolm
Walking down the path was a man and his two kids *cough* rednecks *cough*.


Ignorance manifested like this makes me crazy mad.

::hand motion::
*count it*

 

[Scarpozzi]

Originally posted by: allisolm
Walking down the path was a man and his two kids *cough* rednecks *cough*.


Ignorance manifested like this makes me crazy mad.

I'm from Tennessee. I know a redneck when I read a post about one....this guy was definitely a redneck. Half of being a redneck is killing things in front of your kids so they respect you.

I'm not a redneck, unfortunately....but I do like to drink PBR on the lake and listen to Hank Williams, JR.....hehe......more because it's a family tradition than my actual personality or personal style.

 

[TGS]

Was it Whacking Day?

 

[BDawg]

People who kill things for no good reason or for sport are sadistic and sociopathic.

 

[pclstyle]

Originally posted by: moshquerade
snakes represent satan therefore people by reflex strike out at them.

ah, that would explain my incessant need to destroy all the 3-pronged gardening equipment in the neighborhood

 

[pinion9]

And how many of you kill spiders, bees and ants just for being around? If you see a spider on your living room floor, do you let him be or smash him?

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: allisolm
Walking down the path was a man and his two kids *cough* rednecks *cough*.


Ignorance manifested like this makes me crazy mad.

So you think the kids may have been Starbucks sipping play date going yuppies? STFU with your political correctness.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: pinion9
And how many of you kill spiders, bees and ants just for being around? If you see a spider on your living room floor, do you let him be or smash him?

I don't kill ants on purpose, and flies I kill because they are nasty... but that's entirely different. A snake has a brain, not a few nerve cells bundled into ganglia.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: pclstyle

Originally posted by: moshquerade
snakes represent satan therefore people by reflex strike out at them.

ah, that would explain my incessant need to destroy all the 3-pronged gardening equipment in the neighborhood

thrilling ain't it?

 

[swtethan]

what do you do with snakes on a plane?

 

[NuclearNed]

Originally posted by: allisolm
Walking down the path was a man and his two kids *cough* rednecks *cough*.


Ignorance manifested like this makes me crazy mad.

I'm sorry I offended your delicate sensibilities. That said, they were still rednecks, and no - I'm not generalizing. This is eastern TN, and they abound. Heck, a lot of them are even proud of the fact that they are rednecks. Picture every stereotype you can imagine about rednecks (mullets, beer guts - even on the kids, nascar tshirts), and you have a pretty accurate picture of what this man and his kids looked like.

 

[Amused]

Anything that enters my house, car or tent is fair game.

Anything the bites or stings me is fair game.

Anything that directly threatens me is fair game.

Anything that's yummy when I'm hungry is fair game.

Anything else is live and let live.

 

[NuclearNed]

Originally posted by: Amused
Anything that enters my house, car or tent is fair game.

Anything the bites or stings me is fair game.

Anything that directly threatens me is fair game.

Anything that's yummy when I'm hungry is fair game.

Anything else is live and let live.

I agree - good rules to have.

 

[ryan256]

Sorry. But any animal considered a pest, unless domesticated, doesn't live long around me. Why would I simply move those rats somewhere else? So they can bug my neighbors or come back? No... they're going to die. Same with snakes. Sorry but I don't have the time to study snake breeds to know which ones are poisonous and which ones aren't. Again... I'll error on the side of caution and remove a potential threat.

 

[Thraxen]

Originally posted by: ryan256
Sorry. But any animal considered a pest, unless domesticated, doesn't live long around me. Why would I simply move those rats somewhere else? So they can bug my neighbors or come back? No... they're going to die. Same with snakes. Sorry but I don't have the time to study snake breeds to know which ones are poisonous and which ones aren't. Again... I'll error on the side of caution and remove a potential threat.

Maybe you have rats because you killed the snakes.

 

[CrackRabbit]

Originally posted by: swtethan
what do you do with snakes on a plane?

Get Samuel L Jackson, *****.

 

[notfred]

I meet plenty of people who know nothing about snakes, and immediately assume that any snake is rattlesnake. Personally, I've chased rattlesnakes off of the path in front of me before, just so that they're out of the way, withoutout killing them. I don't see why other people have to see a garter snake and say "Oh crap! A rattlesnake!" and kill the thing. Those people piss me off, too.

And yes, I kill spiders, ants, etc, when they're *in my house*, but if I come across them outside I leave them alone.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: ryan256
Sorry. But any animal considered a pest, unless domesticated, doesn't live long around me. Why would I simply move those rats somewhere else? So they can bug my neighbors or come back? No... they're going to die. Same with snakes. Sorry but I don't have the time to study snake breeds to know which ones are poisonous and which ones aren't. Again... I'll error on the side of caution and remove a potential threat.

i agree. if rats, mice etc are in my home i kill them. but if i see somethin gin the barn, field whatever its kinda silly to kill it.