Reptile & Amphibian Forums

http://www.localnews8.com/news/local/4240456.html
snakes in the house

"Hepworth said he was killing up to 50 snakes a day."

What an ignorant hick.
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- Natalie
(San Francisco Bay Area)

1.0.0 Banded California King
1.0.0 Mexican Black King
1.0.0 Bay of LA Rosy Boa
0.0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
1.2.0 Rubber Boas

and what pray tell would you have done in his shoes?
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lost in the jungle somewhere
Z

I'd be happy to have snakes hibernate in my basement. But even if I wasn't, it still would not be an excuse to kill them.
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- Natalie
(San Francisco Bay Area)

1.0.0 Banded California King
1.0.0 Mexican Black King
1.0.0 Bay of LA Rosy Boa
0.0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
1.2.0 Rubber Boas

I´m sorry, but I don´t think you´ve really thought it through. I´m sure you think it would be really cool to have 500-1k snakes in your basement. In theory it sounds fantastic. But in reality.... let´s just say it wouldn´t be very nice.

What if it was a different animal? Let´s say he had 400 rats that dug and clawed their way through his house every autumn to make his basement their home for the winter during which many of them died, making his basement a) smell awful b) be totally unuseable. If you can honestly tell me that you would explore all other methods of removal before setting even a single trap then fair enough, you have a kinder buddhist soul than I do. However, if you have ever set a mouse trap, cockroach trap, ant trap, etc etc how can you justify that and still call this guy an "ignorant hick". Just because you personally feel more affectionate towards a certain type of animal doesnt give it any more worth in the eyes of the world.
Now, I am playing the devil´s advocate to some degree here, but I think that he was doing all he thought he could at the time, and I don´t think this makes him an "ignorant hick".

sorry to be a patronizing jerk, but that´s how i feel
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lost in the jungle somewhere
Z

You're not being a patronizing jerk, I believe you've hit the proverbial nail on the head. We on this forum are biased and think reptiles are cool and should not be destroyed. However, I myself would not want hundreds of garter snakes in my basement. (If I had a basement, it would have dozens of snakes that I wanted in cages) I would be looking for means to clear them out. Yes, I would not be killing them, unless I had to!

Like you said, how about an infestation of some other creature. How about feral cats, bears, bees, wasps or termites.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
13.26 BRB
11.16 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Thanks Dave,
I just tend to come on strong with this type of issue because it is something I deal with quite alot. I work on a biological surveying project in Ecuador which requires quite a bit of specimen collection, and we always have volunteers who for example, are totally happy to kill a frog and stick it in alcohol, but don´t you DARE kill that pretty butterfly. (change the names of those two animals and repeat ad nausium) objectivity is the word of the day i suppose
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lost in the jungle somewhere
Z

or to kill a frog by sticking it in alcohol.

It never ceases to amaze me how some specific animal activists will latch onto an animal and preach preach preach about how important it is while swatting at a bug or eating a steak. Myself, I care for all creatures and some of them taste mighty fine. I'll trap/kill/erradicate/evict/relocate any living (or non living) thing in my house that IMO does not belong.

Don't get me wrong, I do feel it is our responsibility as a race to protect our planet and the creatures on it, that does not mean we have to live with hundreds of anything we don't want living in our basements.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
13.26 BRB
11.16 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

n/p
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lost in the jungle somewhere
Z

"What if it was a different animal? Let´s say he had 400 rats that dug and clawed their way through his house every autumn to make his basement their home for the winter during which many of them died, making his basement a) smell awful b) be totally unuseable."

Of course I wouldn't want 400 rats in my house. Who would? It doesn't really make sense to compare a non-native, invasive rodent to a harmless snake. They do not smell bad, get into food, or destroy property like rats do. I would be overjoyed to have some perfectly harmless, native wildlife call my basement home.

In fact, I'm in a similar situation right now. Thousands of ladybugs hibernate under the shingles of the side of my house, and every year I enjoy watching them emerge. And while these insects are not native, they don't have a negative impact on the environment like common rats do.

And the guy in the article was killing the snakes (which, by the way, are a protected species in that state) BEFORE he even called any sort of organization to get them out! That, in my opinion, certainly makes him an ignorant hick. He thinks he can just kill native, protected wildlife just because he "doesn't like them".

I'm an animal biology major, and I don't feel that I (or any person for that matter) has any right to kill an animal unnecessarily. I'm fine with using animals for food and for research, but I am against the killing of animals "just because"... As was the case in the article. Seriously, it really isn't that hard to pick up a small snake and simply move it off your property if you don't want it around. Certainly much easier than killing them and having to deal with 50 dead, mangled snake bodies.
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- Natalie
(San Francisco Bay Area)

1.0.0 Banded California King
1.0.0 Mexican Black King
1.0.0 Bay of LA Rosy Boa
0.0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
1.2.0 Rubber Boas