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What is the strangest\meanest thing you have ever heard a snake hater say?

I've heard people say that just thinking about snakes makes them feel sick. I don't wish to be mean, but I think that's just plain weird. :shrugs:

Then you get the ones who think all snakes should be killed etc...

The response that, for some reason, annoys me the most, is when they look in the tank and go "urgh!" Snakes are not "urgh." They're just animals.

I think people react waaay too much to snakes. I've had people actually run away from me when I've been holding a little baby corn. What do they think it's going to do, lunge out of my hands and chase them down? :rolleyes: Now, I know I'm biased, but it kind of annoys me when people hate an animal for no real reason. And they won't even make an effort to overcome that fear. I used to hate spiders, but I made a big effort to appreciate them and now I love spiders and readily handle the big 'uns.

And besides, even if you dislike snakes, there is no need to want to harm them. Lol... I get a little carried away on topics like this :grin01:
 
Well, it was not really something he said, but more his reaction; a collegue of mine literally did not want to stand close to my computer screen when he saw the pic of one of my snakes used as background?! He did not feel good looking at it or being close to it! And he is a male! No offense to women, but I don't expect a male to act like that.
 
My scaredy cat friend always cracks me up. Last time she came over I tried to show her my hatchlings, figuring the cute little ones would be less scary than the adults. But her parting shot as she was leaving: "Next time keep your snakes to yourself" lol.
She's also told me '"that one would make a nice belt" .
I told her my anery I used to have had bitten me once and she was like, "It bites?" and got up and left the room. Like the snake was going to get out and attack her. Some people are just so scared it's funny.
 
I typically don't advertise that I own snakes. However, when I receive a shipment in I typically have it delivered to my office, which is in a health clinic. My fed-ex guy knows, in fact we have a running joke that he's the only man in my life... <snicker> My receptionist will broadcast that "Tonya's gettin a delivery today" so the office will watch for the package. Then when it comes, people will want to see what I've gotten. They go to my website and rate their favorites... it's hysterical.

The point here - one Medical Assistant works just outside my door. She won't even LOOK at what comes, but always asks. Finally, one day she said to me. "Before I met you I would try to run snakes over with my lawnmower, now I don't. I try to scare them away first." I said, "I'm so proud."

-Tonya
 
The strangest thing I've ever heard a self-proclaimed snake hater say is "They actually dont feel/seem so bad". A little education does go a long way with some people. Probably the best thing to tell someone who does not like snakes is that they dont have to like them, but they shouldnt hate them; then explaining how benifitial snakes are to the enviroment, which often in the toughest ones sparks a tiny bit of respect for them because your not trying to get them to believe the exact opposite.

I have also found that guys are usually worse then girls, especially when theyre not around their guy friends (if they are they put up that ''I'm cool I'll make fun of the little animal" front). They react worse and are usually harder to get through; its much easier convincing females to get over their fear and give the snake a tiny touch.
 
Plissken said:
it kind of annoys me when people hate an animal for no real reason. And they won't even make an effort to overcome that fear. I used to hate spiders, but I made a big effort to appreciate them and now I love spiders and readily handle the big 'uns.
exactly!!! All I have to do to get my mother to leave is tell her that it is time to let the snakes out for their daily walk. LOL

But it really is annoying when you want to share your passion for such beautiful animals and others are to scared and won't even stop for a second and think rationally about them. Just when you think the world is lost, you log into this site and realise there is still some rational people out there.

:cheers:
 
My friend Karen used to be so afraid of snakes she could not even look at a picture of one! A picture would drain her face of all color and cause her to flee the room! Then I s l o w l y introduced her to my big amel sweetheart Calvin. 2 weeks later she went to the girl who bred Calvin the year before (Calvin was a year old when he charmed Karen) and bought Calvin's younger sister. Stella just turned 10 and Karen still has her :)

Just try living day to day when your 2 favorite animals on earth are cornsnakes......and rats!!!!!
 
I never understood people's 'fear' of reptiles, snakes in particular, until I had a friend who was absolutely terrified of birds. Not just big ones, like macaws, but the little sparrows and chickadees that live in the neighborhood! Who's afraid of chickadees??? She was...absolutely, irrationally, petrified. And it was a reaction she couldn't control. She has no idea why, but a mere picture even freaks her out. Anyway, my point (and I do have one), is that some people are genuinely phobic about some things. Unfortunately, I think in the case of snakes (and other 'crawlies'), they have just become scapegoats for people. When someone finds out that I LOVE the 'crawlies', they look at me like I'm some kind of degenerate. I try not to take it personally, knowing it's their issue. I just don't talk about critters with people anymore, unless I know they aren't biased. And then there's my consolation thought..."yeah, well, my snake can eat your mouse!"
 
People say all sorts of mean things to me about snakes, but that doesn't bother me. It's the people who know I like them, but feel the need to tell me about their snake-killing episodes, that really pi** me off. "But this one was big; I had no choice", they say, holding their hands 13 inches apart. But I'll take a dozen shovel-beating stories over a glue-trap story. Some of these people would call you a monster if you swatted a puppy on the nose, but they'll let a dozen glue-trapped snakes slowly die of dehydration in a garbage bag. These people are brought to tears watching "Animal Cops", then they turn around and torture animals in their own backyards. And of course, it's completely legal to torture animals with glue traps. :shrugs:
 
DaemoNox said:
I have also found that guys are usually worse then girls, especially when theyre not around their guy friends (if they are they put up that ''I'm cool I'll make fun of the little animal" front). They react worse and are usually harder to get through; its much easier convincing females to get over their fear and give the snake a tiny touch.

I do come to believe that is true!
 
A few months ago, I had a snake-hater friend over, and she showed up about an hour earlier than she had said she would. I was still feeding snakes when she arrived. Later she said, "next time, do me a favor, and don't feed those things when I'm around." I saw red for a second, but after I composed myself I replied: "I have a better idea. Why don't you just learn to tell time, or stay the f home next time?" :mad:
 
Hehe, did not expect you to get verbally aggresive that easily Dean :rofl: Of course you were right about it!
 
Some one told me that "I was sick and I should seek help because I had snakes as pets." ...... :blowup:
 
Roy Munson said:
A few months ago, I had a snake-hater friend over, and she showed up about an hour earlier than she had said she would. I was still feeding snakes when she arrived. Later she said, "next time, do me a favor, and don't feed those things when I'm around." I saw red for a second, but after I composed myself I replied: "I have a better idea. Why don't you just learn to tell time, or stay the f home next time?" :mad:

I admire you for keeping relatively cool about it, Dean. I'm sure I wouldn't have been so calm! The way I see it is, if you know I own snakes, don't come in if you don't like it. It's my house and my pets.

When I had snails before, a visitor to my house, upon spotting my harmless lil snail, screamed "URGH! Kill it!" Now excuse me, but you do not come on my property and threaten to kill my animals. If you know I keep animals you don't like, why come in at all? :rolleyes:
 
I must say, I have many people around me that hate my snakes for different reasons. It's okay, many people are afraid and they don't even know why. Most of them, when I ask, can't give me a definitive reason.

The only ones that really peeve me off, are the ones who make judgements on me as a person for the types of animals I own.

Case in point... and this is my favorite one by the way...
I know a few people who are Born Again Christians (let me make the disclaimer that not all Born Again Christians feel this way, but the ones I know do). They have made a few ridiculous claims previously to my boyfriend and myself about why then can and can't be friends with someone based on their religion.
The worst one was a friend I had in college who used to study with me. When he learned I had snakes and I loved them he refused to be my lab partner anymore and then proclaimed, "I cannot be friends with anyone who would take the devil into their own home and care/love him." Apparently his religion viewed the Bible literally in the sense that the snake which fooled Adam and Eve was the devil. Now the devil, who was in fact a snake (not just a depiction), is the cause of all mankind's suffering. Therefore my snake and all snakes are evil, but not just evil, THE evil (devil). So anyone who likes snakes or owns them is really owning a part of the devil, and a devil worshipper!
:devil01:
Since knowing this guy in college, I had two other Born Again Christians who agreed with him. One works with my boyfriend, and the other used to be a former band member. That band member, oddly enough, quit because the band did not share his religious views. Though, I am wondering if it is because he recently found out we own snakes.:dgrin:
 
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I hate peopel 'abusing' religion to make a judgement on others, and I would especially if having snakes was the issue!

:eek:fftopic: I used to play 'Magic the Gathering'' (card game with spells and fantasy creatures) years ago when I lived in a very religious town, and we had a small competition. Some of these people where outside the revenue where we were playing and were handing out flyers and talking to people that wanted to go in for playing or watching, trying to convince them that we allowd evil beings to come into our world through these cards?! And we would all turn into junks and end in hell of course :rolleyes:
 
My mom dislikes snakes a great deal, so when I got one my Junior year in high school she was none to pleased, let me tell you. But she knew I had the animal lover's streak and I have had up to that point just about every other type of critter imaginable.

When I went away to college, I could not take my snake with me. Stupid dorm rules and such. So I left my snake at home in the care of my mother. To this day I am surprised she ever took care of it as well as she did. She used kitchen tongs to remove it from the viv for cleaning and feeding, so for her, its a miracle.

However, at her job she knew a young man just a couple of years older than myself who is a reptile nut. He had a Burm that ate rabbits and chameleons and such, and one day she asked him, "How long does a cornsnake live?" He said 10-15 years. Obviously not a good enough answer, mom then asked, "How long do they live if I don't feed it?" I think she was mostly kidding, but still it kind of irked me.

But the good news is, whenever she finds a black rat snake in her flowerbed, she no longer gives it the immediate death sentence. She calls me and I come to remove it. ;)

Aside from that my grandmother refused to go in my house upon hearing the news a prized hatchling escaped. Or she commonly asks me "Do you let them roam around the house?"

Or after buying a hatchling corn at the local shop, funnily they put the mostly snake occupied reptile section next to the rodent section. As I was walking away with my delicup one young woman, who I'd seen looking in and pointing at the mice, asked me "Why do you like snakes? They're gross.". My answer, "Because I hate mice." I thought she was going to faint.

Or when I took said snake to Petsmart to get some new hides for its tank, one woman saw the hatchling in a kritter keeper in my cart (it was a hot day and I'm not leaving it in the car) and she went "uuhhhh!" and turned around and jetted out of the aisle.

Five minutes later I had a Petsmart employee barking at me, "You know that snakes aren't allowed in the store, right? They're not "pets" (complete with the finger quotes)". I then asked, why they sold "snake supplies" if snakes aren't allowed in the store and aren't pets. No real answer that I paid any mind to.

I've seen people bring in their parrots, lizards, dogs, cats, rabbits, whatever and never a problem. Some people even have the most ill behaved dogs that pee on everything imagineable in the store, and yet...my snake who's quietly sitting in a small critter keeper isn't allowed. And now I find it humorous that Petsmart is now selling snakes. Thankfully though, I haven't seen that idiot employee in quite some time.
 
Oh, this one is great :rolleyes: It was directed at me not the snake itself, my own AUNT said, "I hope that thing gets out while you're sleeping and kills you." - my own AUNT

Then my social studies teacher who knows I love snakes described to me in horrific detail how he killed the baby garters in his backyard.
 
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