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Family rant- "Snakes are evil bs"

Allalaskan

Allalaskan

The Crazy Alaskan
So I get this text from my mom, just going off about this 2 year old that was killed in Florida by the families pet "Python". She goes as far as to tell me that they are all killing machines that will kill you as soon as look at you and that they are going to kill my kids (2 2ft long bps and a 4ft corn) and that they are evil. "Even Satan possessed one to trick Eve" she said. So I get to reading and find out its a friggen Burm! Shes trying to compare my bps to a burm, GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. So I text her back explaining that my snakes dont get even half the size of the one that killed that little girl, and that mine are not capable of doing so. I then told her that its like comparing her little Mini Snouzer to a 70lb German shepherd and that I think more babies have been smothered by "family pet cats" then snakes have killed babies (which I honestly think is true, might have to look it up but im just trying to get my point across to her) then snakes I think.

I just get so tired of people acting like snakes are all evil and blood thirsty human killers when they ( my mom for one) has no friggen clue about ANY of them other then what they hear on tv. It just drives me nuts.

Sorry if im ranting on and on but this is just getting old and on my nerves.
 
I think our mothers would get along... My mom hates the fact that I have snakes and wont visit. She also thinks I'm a hoarder because I have mice and rats in a shed to feed my snakes... Oh and those are spawns of Satan who carry the plague... I guess that's my fault for telling her that I had the most adorable curly haired mouse born the other day and I was thinking about keeping it...

I don't live with my mom and she's only ever seen one of my snakes in person(a baby spider ball python) but I guess she still thinks they're all huge. I try not to talk about the snakes and rodents to her. It's not my fault she likes to call during feeding time or when i'm in the shed or when i'm holding one of the pet rats.

Oh, and she still thinks they're going to rip my hand off it they bite me, even though i've told her it doesn't hurt when they bite(i've gotten a few hatchling bites and a couple of feeding bites here lately... I guess my snakes are mad I moved them to 7 days from 5 but they're on bigger food ><). It's not fair to say my snakes are going to hurt me by biting me when her dog bit her and she ended up getting 3 stitches.

Lol sorry had to go off on my own rant too! It is getting VERY annoying. The funny part is, my Great grandmother asks me how they are doing and if the hatchlings are eating and leaves it at that.
 
Out of my 3 snakes only one bites, and I think its just because he is "food Happy" He thinks any thing that moves in front of him is food (He doesnt get heald to often cause I wont hold him with the kids around, dont want him striking at them even though he is suppose to be 2 years old and is still only 2 feet long), so when I hold him I have to do it with one hand, if I bring the other hand around to "pet" him or any thing he will strike at it lol, but the other two the female bp and the corn snake have NEVER bitten me ore even really acted like they were going to.

I guess it just gets under my skin because its the whole "snakes are evil" thing and that even though mine are small because its a "Python" she acts like its ganna get 12 feet long and ganna eat us all. And it really bugs me that she went as far as to even try to bring up the whole "Satan possessed a snake" thing, because Yes he POSSESSED one, theres a difference between possesion and BEING "Satan". Its on the same line as "all Pitbulls are bad dogs", which O ya my step dad told me I should get rid of my dog because its a Pit mix and that all pittbulls are psycho and blood thirsty........................grrrrrrrrrr
 
I use the line "you're entitled to your opinion" and then refuse to have any further conversation with people who want to try that garbage with me.
 
She needs to stop believing in fairy tales and get an education. I know that sounds harsh, but I think in this case it is true. The Bible is a wonderful thing, in its place. But in my opinion it has been used to spread more hatred and division than love, and that is wrong. She should stop reveling in her ignorance and learn a few facts.
 
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to starsevol again.
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Argh! Your post was brilliant.

Not to bash your mom, or anyone's mom, for that matter, but people really need to stop swallowing the watered down gruel of information the media tube feeds them, and educate themselves before regurgitating that ignorance flavored gruel back on others.

What that "new" news story neglects to mention is when the death originally happened, back in 2009, the child had other wounds and signs of neglect before the snake "killed" it, and the snake was possibly being used as a cover up. I'm searching for an original article, and I will link it once I locate it.
 
You should tell her mom that we have that trailer trash POS child-neglecting animal-starving POS POS POS couple to thank for the influx of proposed anti-snake legislation. First, they STARVED the burm- its last meal, a month before the escape, was a road kill squirrel- totally inadequate for an 8-foot snake. Then, they were keeping it in some sort of glass tank, from which it escaped repeatedly. REPEATEDLY the night of the child's death!!! And what did the rocket-scientist boyfriend do to prevent further escape? He tied a burlap sack over the tank. Yeah, right. And nonchalantly went off to bed with the pregnant hoochie mama who birthed a replacement child only a month after the toddler's death. Thirdly, he _claims_ that the snake was attempting to eat the child, and he stabbed it. (Luckily the snake was removed from the home, received veterinary attention and is doing fine, now that it is being cared for properly) but AFAIK it has never been proven that the snake actually caused the death. In other words, the whole story could have been made up, a la the Caylee Anthony BS drowning story. Fourthly, he was keeping the snake illegally, without a permit, without microchipping. I hope they throw away the book on those two LOSERS but they'll probably get off with a slap on the wrist. If that.
 
Yes, all of that was info I was looking for Nanci, you summed it up pretty well.

Quote from the article:

Darnell told deputies that he woke up in the middle of the night, found the python in the hallway and returned it to its 200-gallon aquarium where it spent most of its time. He thought he had secured the snake by placing it in a laundry bag, which had a small hole in it, and then covering the aquarium with a quilt held on by safety pins. But Hare told deputies that the snake had escaped from the tank and laundry bag 10 times in the previous two months, and she was planning to make a locking lid for the tank.
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I haven't been in the snake world very long (almost a year) but from what I have seen 100% of the bad publicity we get is from owners who are either ignorant of how to care for their animal or are completely incompetent to begin with. Ignorance is almost always amplified by the media covering the story (all they are concerned with is ratings and the almighty dollar). Unfortunately because of this snakes are labelled as evil and those who don't understand them completely lose what interest in learning about them that they might have had.

I have an AP pueblan milk snake and constantly get the terrified "Is that a coral snake" reaction when I have her out and about. I can excuse this as most people (myself included to a point) can't identify a snake by sight. However, just because it is a snake by no means automatically makes it venomous or dangerous.

I am by no means very religous but your mother is forgetting one important thing. The bible says that God created life. That includes snakes. If the bible had been written differently, say Satan possessed a rabbit, guess what would be happening with rabbits.

Thank you media for your heartfelt stories about one of the creations of life that is integral to the cycle of nature.
 
I am a Bible believing, 6 day creationist who accepts every word of scripture as the inspired word of my God. No evolution in my faith, either.

Here's the biblical thing with snakes. Yes, Lucifer took possession of a serpent and lied to Eve. Yes, God cursed the serpent to slither the ground (speculation is that snakes either had legs or perhaps even wings). The curse that was spoken by God involving enmity from man, however, was to Lucifer himself.

Genesis 3:15 reads "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He will crush your head, and you will bruise Him on the heel."

This is NOT talking about snakes biting people. How often are snake bites taken on the heel? When a snake strikes, it is generally in an upward angle, not down at the ground where your heel is. Rather, this is talking about the insignificant effect of sin Satan has on God's people, contrasted by the power of redemption on the Cross by Christ. Basically, a fatal head injury vs a minor foot injury.

Not to mention, God declared all animals "clean" in the New Testament - including pigs, which were detested by Jewish people. This includes snakes. There is nothing inherently evil about snakes. God made them and loves them just as much as puppies or beetles. They are HIS creatures.

I hope this clears up any misrepresentation that the Bible receives involving this subject.
 
Frustrating that there is all this attention on something so rare (and probably not even true IMO) when so many situations that do kill children commonly are overlooked. Where is the outcry about the evil satanic pools, cars, guns, dogs, and freakin' neglect abusive parents and pet owners?
 
Also, the "unclean" animals in the Bible was about their suitability to be eaten by humans and not a comment on their inherent qualities. One of the unclean animals, a type of seal, the skin of it was actually used in the ark, where only good, clean and holy stuff was supposed to be used. Therefor, it wasn't good to eat but was still considered holy.
 
What do you expect your mom (and most other people) to think? If they come from a Christian background, they've likely spent their whole lives thinking of snakes as inherently evil. When you couple that with the media's successful agenda of fear mongering as a form of control, it's a wonder snakes still exist--at least in Christian-dominated countries. Most people are hard to turn away from their preexisting ideas, no matter how unfounded or incorrect, especially if they hear it from "authority figures" like tv anchormen, one-sided "documentaries", and articles in The Sun or People magazine. They don't WANT to be educated, and they'll fight tooth and nail to keep it that way. Evolve? Change their way of thinking? Not if they can keep from it! Why should they? They're comfortable with their world just like it is.

Remind me to tell you about my own mother, someday, and how she thinks we're going to endanger the entire family (who live 250+ miles away) with our parrots, which are apparently going to cause a worldwide epidemic of Bird Flu, all by themselves. Frustrating? Yeah. I hear ya :).
 
I was raised in a devout Christian family, and I don't believe I ever heard snakes mentioned in a church/bible/faith context other than of course learning the story of Adam and Eve in Sunday school. I'm sure if snakes were truly evil, my grandfather, the minister, would have mentioned it as I attempted to catch every garter and red-bellied snake in Minnesota.
 
Nanci is so on the money on this. And the people who say crap about snakes need to do some freaking reading instead of jumping to conclusions. My mom don't like my snake but she knows when she starts complaining about it. I just tell her shut the heck up. And if she keeps goin I just walk away. She kept my nephews bp for a lil over a yr. Until she found someone to take it. And I think its your own business to have what animals you want. So many people whine about snakes. Well what if it changed and we all started whining about dogs or cats or some other animal. Some people need to stop and think about what they say before they say it. And not all snakes are the same they have to wake up and realize that.. some people at just ignorant in not knowing what is what.
 
I've been going to church for 20+ years and have yet to hear one bad word spoken about snakes. They don't come up very often, if at all, in my experience. I get very negative reactions towards snakes from many people, most of whom are not religious. I don't think this is a religious issue. I think it's two things: 1) most people are as ignorant of snakes as I am of dogs, and 2) the media regularly feeds on people's fears and portrays snakes as evil.

The other day, we were watching the part 1 of the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter). There was a snake in it. The snake was evil. The snake opened it's huge mouth (because, of course, it was a huge snake) and you saw a ton of sharp teeth. It ate somebody. I turned to my husband and said, "I wish they'd stop portraying snakes as evil!" Why couldn't Voldemort have possessed a guinea pig? ;)

Most people have no reason to expand their knowledge of reptiles. They have as little interest in reptiles as I have in water polo. So there's no impetus for change. It may be lazy thinking, but I can't say they are at fault. We only have so much time and energy to expand our minds, so we tend to pick the things that are most important to us or those we are most interested in to learn about.
 
Yeah my Nana is the only one in my family who is totally creeped out by the snakes and doesn't want to touch or hold them. But she has never said anything negative about them, which is nice. I do however get remarks from people at my work that I take with a gain of salt or just ignore. I love my snakes, take good care of them and that's all that matters.

I am always impressed with peoples knowledge of the Bible, to be able to quote portions takes a lot of time, study and better memory than I have. I was raised going to Catholic church every Sunday until I moved out. But I personally don't hold much stock in the stories being true, idk who wrote it or how many times it was translated and re-written (not trying to offend here just my opinion, don't need a lecture) But if anything we should pitty the poor critter for being possessed by the devil, not condemn it for all eternity for crying out loud! I thought a major theme of Jesus was forgiveness... but like usual people read/hear what they want to and skip over things like the "cleansing" of animals as mentioned. I have been really tempted to take the snakes to one of the pet blessings they do sometimes just to see peoples reactions, and to see if they would really bless them. But I do like the phrase "all creatures great and small, the good Lord made them all", so anyone who discriminates animals is in the same category as those who do it to humans. I'm just thankful for being open minded or at the very least educated and understand that every living thing has a purpose on this earth and should be respected no matter how many appendages (or lack thereof) it has ;)
 
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