Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just watch an episode of "Cops" that made me sick. Some woman called the police to complain that she had a snake outside her house. Two cars responded and the police quickly located a large Black Rat Snake crawling around on the roof of the woman's front porch. After a couple of minutes, the snake started making it's way down the porch and on to a windown awning next to the porch. It was obviously trying to find a way down and away from all the commotion. One of the policemen then calmly walked up to the snake (which was still trying to find an escape route) and whacked it on the head twice with his baton, proudly pronounced it 10-7, and put it in the garbage can. Unfortunately, I couldn't identify from the patch or car markings which department they were with.

...feels about snakes. All we can do is try to educate those who are willing to learn. And, of course, complain about those and other shows that present such actions as OK.

That is the one thing that makes me the maddest. See I live in Tennessee and around here people are so scared of snakes that it makes me sick. I mean if you kill one it's like some kind of "Good Deed". Don't get me wrong not all people here are like that but most of them are. My grandmother won't even talk to me because I called her a F'N retard for killing a black rat snake with a rake. She called me saying that she kiled a rattlesnake. I knew it wasn't. So when I got there of course laid a dead 5 foot black rat snake. She said that it was rattling it's tail. I told here that not only rattlers shake their tail when threatened but she said that she hated snakes and that she would kill everyone that she sees. I asked her to call me if she saw one but she said that she didn't want to give it a chance to get away. I called her a F'N retard and left. I mean I don't care that she won't talk to me. She shouldn't have been so dumb.

Definitely a sad situation. Makes one wonder what, if anything, can be done about it.

Initially, given the prevailing sentiment toward snakes in our society, one might think that there's little hope. But this has me thinking about contacting our local PD and asking them how they would respond to a situation like this. We have an animal control division, which I assume would be the principal responders most of the time. But they're not 24/7 (not manned on weekends), which would leave it up to patrol officers to "handle" the situation as they see fit.

Most cities have animal shelters/sanctuaries that cater mainly to unclaimed dogs and cats, but probably receive the occasional call from someone with a snake or lizard in their yard. I wonder if these outfits work together with the local law enforcement to find a humane solution. I wonder if animal control would be as savage as the unfortunate example on "Cops." I wonder if volunteering to assist in these types of calls would help.

I think I'm going to find out. michaelb

The show would definitely get bad reviews and have the general public complaining if it were a puppy or kitten that the cop beat to death, but most people think its a job well done to kill a snake! It makes me sick! I have seen quite a few shows where snakes are "disposed" of, and I just can't understand how people can be so cruel. Christy

It is kind of funny... think if the headlines you read about snakes were about kittens... 'Kitten Beaten to Death on Sidewalk'... 'Kitten Killed by Shotgun Blast After It Attacks Owner'... 'Thousands of Kittens Skinned and Eaten in Yearly Texas Festival'...
To the majority of the public, animals which are considered pets ought to be treated as humans except in exceptional cases. Animals which are food or creepy wildlife aren't treated any better than mosquitos. It's sort of an all-or-nothing rationalization so people can feel good about themselves.

Depending on what state this show was filmed in (as I said, I was unable to determine that), they may have killed a protected animal. In cases where a persons life or safety in in imminent danger, a police officer has the authority to do that. However, this obviously wasn't the case. I can't recall a single case in my 30 years in this game where a human was killed by a Black Rat Snake. Or even seriously injured. I'm sure some have hurt themselves (running into trees, etc.) trying to get away, but the snake didn't do it. In cases where a protected animal is involved, the police are required to call either Fish and Game officers or Animal Control officers to assist.

The thing that really irks me about this particular case was that the snake was obviously trying to escape. If they had waited another 30 seconds, it would have been gone, problem solved. What they are doing with this show is sending the message that the proper way to handle any snake encounter is to kill the snake. Somebody should tell these officers that the chance of finding a venomous snake on the roof of somebody's porch is about equal to the chance that same snake will sprout wings and fly away.