I have a quick question for all you snake lovers! But first, allow me to give you the reason why I'm asking this question. I live in Texas, and one of the first things my dad taught me as a young girl was the difference between "good snakes" and "bad snakes". Good snakes were, of course, those that are non-venomous, such as King Snakes. Bad snakes, we those like Cottonmouths and the infamous Diamondback Rattlesnakes.
Because of their abundance and their deadly venom, I have been taught to kill these "bad" snakes whenever I come across them. At the risk of being severely bashed and having evil thoughts sent my way, I wanted to know what snake lovers thought about this.
Now, I know they are good for keeping down rodent populations, and some people would say I should just bag it up and take it far away and release it. There are two problems with this line of thinking: 1) I do not know how to handle snakes, and I am not willing to handle poisonous ones at my own risk 2) The snake will either come right back, or cause problems for (and potentially harm) someone else. People have tried these "catch and release" methods with sparrows, but they usually come right back.
So, are there any snakes you consider to be bad snakes? Would you ever kill these wild snakes, especially knowing they are not in any way endangered or protected? Or does your love of snakes make this seem absolutely unacceptable and abhorrent?
