Please do not place messages about killing a snake, and asking what kind it is you have killed! That is like going onto a message board about dogs and telling about torturing one to death, and asking what kind of breed it was. You will likely get "flamed", and likely by the forum owner, depending on his mood that day.
A note about head shape in snakes: Head shape is a totally useless character for identifying a snake, and has nothing to do with whether the serpent is or is not venomous (poisonous). Many harmless snakes, especially when young, have rather large heads. Please describe color, pattern, markings, and habitat where the snake was found. The shape of the head will not help us in any way. Thank you. Please post comments on THIS ARTICLE ONLY! To ask a question go here: Home
At 59, I am attempting to learn and re-educate myself. Just looking at a photo of a snake cause me to go clammy and shake. But I am slowly learning.
Timothy is my greatest teacher. Timothy, the black racer,who lives in the tree in my front yard. I see his fear and he sees mine and we get along quite well. Now Bernard the 5 foot plus black racer who calls the barn home I may never get along with. He is literally longer now than I am tall.
So I guess the next step is Herpetology 101.
--Previous Message--
: Thought I would post this to help people
: out who have a fear of snakes. Though
: some research, (in my view, flawed)
: indicates that we might have a natural
: fear of snakes, it has come to my
: attention through decades of
: observation and study that most mammals
: have a startle reflex for snakes, but
: no real fear; cats have been reported
: playing with them and catching them,
: and dogs do not seem particularly
: fearful of them, some dogs actually
: attacking them.
: I do not consider a terror reaction to
: snakes natural or reasonable; too many
: people like myself have learned to
: handle and play with snakes
: (non-venomous!), and some people have
: even gotten familiar enough with
: venomous ones to actually handle them
: (very carefully!), such as the late
: Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin. He had
: handled thousands of venomous snakes
: and was never bitten, though, in my
: view, he took chances with them that
: were a bit extreme.
:
: Now, I respect venomous snakes, and
: will not handle them under any
: circumstances, though I will use a long
: stick to move them to a safer area off
: a trail, or will actually catch them
: and place them in a cooler to take to a
: safer location, and I usually have some
: adrenaline going when I do, but I don't
: have an unreasoning fear of them, and
: have not ever frozen when dealing with
: them.
:
: Oddly, I did have a fear of snakes
: growing up, right into my 30's. I was
: taught by my relatives to have a fear
: of them, and was always afraid, even of
: a "Blacksnake" (either Racer
: or Rat Snake), though the fear had no
: foundation in reason. I only got over
: it when I took a class in Herpetology
: (Reptiles and Amphibians), and began to
: deal with snakes on a daily basis.
:
:
:
Message Thread Fear of snakes! - Alex, forum owner June 28, 2011, 1:53 pm
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