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Dealing with non-snake people

skylark711

skylark711

New member
Recently, I began to mention that I had planned to breed my snow to a non-snake person. At which point, the person quickly turned up their nose and said, "I hate snakes." In return, I smiled and said that each of us has an interest that we enjoy and let the issue drop.

Here's what I need for all you snake people:

Humorous/Wise answers to educate and deal with non snake people:

Mind you, I don't want to change the world into snake loving people...(might mean more competition for finding "the right" snake)

I just want to stir things up a bit. It's the puck in me...Methinks.
 
Well, it's not humorous, and it probably won't make a snake-hater into a snake-lover, but it might help the person see the value of a snake... Snakes are clean animals who are great at keeping the rodent population down. Stress on those dirty, pesky rodents, and the clean, non-disease carrying snake... :)
But the same sort of argument hasn't done much for spiders' reputations. And more people have mosquitos and blackflies than mice and rats.

And of course, our corns are beautiful. Looking at lots of pics of pretty corns should, in my opinion, change anyone's mind. But that's just my opinion. ;)
 
heck just let them hold a baby corn...It worked for my daughter (who is 5) and my hubby. They fell in love instantly!
 
I could never understand how a person could "hate snakes". That is such a strong word! I don't care for spiders-they give me the eb-gb's, but I don't hate them! I think your position is admirable, getting someone who is a snake hater to turn around is not easy. My wife can curl up on the couch with our 3.5' Savanah Monitor, but she is terrified of snakes. I just don't understand it. The monitor is capable of inflicting a much more serious bite than one of the cornsnakes. I have about 4 demonstrations a year with local schools, working with students grades k-12. I think education and interaction will help alot of people to get over there phobias. never give up! never give in!

I hate brussel sprouts..but its a good thing, no one ever tried to chop the head off a brussel sprout with a shovel.
 
Nice comments

Thanks for the comments. For those of you who are reading keep 'em coming...

Matt, you should make the brussel sprouts your signature. ;p Course, there would be many confused people....
 
Well, what happened with me was that in my head I thought "I hate snakes" but what it actually was is "I am very scared of snakes." Turns out that wasn't exactly true either...it was more like "I haven't been exposed to snakes so I am not familiar with them." I think this is true for a lot of people but they just don't realize it right away.
Oh gosh, spiders, don't get me started. (but I'll talk anyway) I have a thick pad of post-it's which I use to crush spiders against the wall or floor and then I just peel off the sheet and throw it out and the spider-crusher is fresh and ready for the next little bugger. Or I whip out the vacuum (we have a central vacuum system where you just plug in the big pipe into the socket things in the walls) and the spiders and their webs and egg sacs get sucked up into the big container in the basement.
 
LoL The most poisones spider in the US (I have heard) is the dady long leg but they can not bite a human. I was never scared of spiders untill i saw Aracniphobia sp? anyways every sense then i have kittens when i see one. and beleave it or not

I have seen the end result of a black widdow bite on a man who out of the blue lifted his hospital gown to show me. (OMG) and a lil spoider bite did a heck of a lot worse to him then any (Surviving) poisiones snake bite (i have seen in many photograps. The funny thing is you are never....and youc an go research this if you want to prove me wrong...But you are never more then 3' from a spider ever. Hope you sleep comfy tonight because that man who lifted his gown was bitten by this black widdow in his bed.

But a note
Black widdows are very common and so are brown recluses in Texas. I do know whow about anywhwere else. There are only 4 poisiones type spiders in the US.....(correct me if i am wrong on that)
 
I've seen and heard of both brown recluse and hobo spiders in LOTS of places the experts insist they don't live. Knowing I'm never more than 3' from a spider does NOT make me feel very comfy :)

I was jumped by a huge momma spider in my doorway the other day (full of eggs, by the size of her.) I swear she was more than 1" long, but then my imagination might be influencing my memory a bit.... <shudder>
 
OMGosh!! Thanks Lisa I'll never ever sleep again!! LOL
As for the snake haters.. I can completely relate to Iris. Thats how it was with me too! Now I have my entire family to convert!My Mom, Gram ect. but I think that really it's just fear of the unknown. The guy we got our girl from told my son to always remember that he is now an embassador(sp.) for snakes. I just hope that they come here for Thanksgiving dinner or we will be eating leftovers for a year!:)



Colleen
 
as for getting people to change their opinion of snakes, in my experience exposure to them is the best way, especially when the snakes are small and harmless looking. I kept a baby amel cornsnake and a kenyan sand boa in my ecology classroom for a semester. About 50% of the class didn't like snakes, with a few people who were absolutely terrified of them. But there's just no way to make a kenyan sand boa or a bright pink little snake look threatening, and by the end of the semester even the people who had been deathly afraid of them were asking to hold them. :)
 
Sci-Fi

Iris said:
Or I whip out the vacuum (we have a central vacuum system where you just plug in the big pipe into the socket things in the walls) and the spiders and their webs and egg sacs get sucked up into the big container in the basement.
Click to expand...

Later: The container in the basement becomes a giant egg sack. Inside it is an enormous spider, waiting to hatch. When it's time, the spider rips open the side with it's egg cutter and emerges, wet and feeble. It rests, and drys it'self in the darkness of the cool basement. Hungry, it leaves the safety of the basement looking for that scent of food which calls to it. (Just Kidding)


Well, back on subject. My son was in the second grade this past season and during his time for "Show-and-Tell," I convinced him to let me give it, with his help. I took three of my baby corns and my big boy, Spot. Spot was inside my shirt.

I asked the class if there were any kids who were very scared of snakes. A few said they were, so I told them I would not come close to them, in that case. After showing the others the baby snakes, these few students raised their hands to touch and hold the babies also. They enjoyed the babies. Half way through the show-and-tell, Spot sticks his head out of my shirt. A little boy notices and yells out in class, "He's got a snake in his shirt!"
I pulled Spot out to show the typical size of the adult corn snake. The kids were impressed. After show-and-tell, some of the kids wanted a snake as a pet.

I later set up a tank inside the class room, so they could have a snake as a class mascot. The teacher wouldn't let the kids hold it, however, out of respect for the little critter. Of course, the snake stayed inside the hide the whole time, but I have a list now of kids who want a baby snake.
 
lovely story about the spider gregg!! I live in the Netherlands, and there are no poiseness spiders over here!!! god i love this place!!!:D


but there are no wild corns over here either!!!!!:rolleyes:
 
Ok, first of all, whoever said above that they only thought they hated snakeswhen really they were just afraid was dead on money. Fear breeds hate and lack of knowledge breeds fear. In my opinion knowledge is not transferrable. You can only gain knowledge for yourself. In other words, if someone tells you something is wrong or unhealthy, chances are you will continue that activity, for example, smoking. I watched several relatves have strokes and even die from smoking related illnesses. Yet i continued to smoke. However, when i started to feel week, and have illnesses myself, i learned my lesson. It took me a while yet to quit, but eventually i did. I feel those who are afraid or "hate" snakes are the same. Telling them will not help. They can only gain the knowledge if they are willing. All we can do is give them another chance to gain knowledge. Do what you can to be honest and help them understand. You would be amazed who you can change through example rather than preaching or lecturing.
 
If preaching worked...

I would still be innocent? Um, no. But I do understand. I loved the snake story and I look forward to more stories. I am really inspired about other people's experiences. Keep up the good work, fellow snake tellers, showers, and befrienders!
 
just a thought

Dont try to get people to like them, liking corns kind of makes us unique eh!!
P.S. I also like liquorice milkshakes eh!
 
Think about it like this,to an arachnid (spider) lover,YOU are the same as the snake hater is to YOU!Can you change your opinions on spiders? If you can, maybe you should after all,live and let live.Education is the answer!
 
spiders?

I would have to agree. As I see it, everything has a place in life. Yes, snakes eat mice but that doesn't make me a mice hater. If I had a snake that ate snakes, I would feed it snakes. For that matter, I eat cows. Does this make me a cow hater? Nope, I just like steak....

Also, I am not trying to shove snakes down other people's throats. I just believe that their opinion may not be well thought out. There are those people who have conciously thought of their actions and truly hate snakes. I can appreciate that belief. What I dislike is someone hating snakes because their best friend from high school hated snakes because her best friend's brother used to put the snake into bed with her. (fictional example pulled out of the air) You get the point though, there is no personal interaction with snakes. It's just an opinion that was formed by another person in society that they felt would work in their belief system. Very possibly, without much thought as to why they added this belief to their system. Hence the reason that I would like to just prompt people to evaluate why they believe what they believe. If it's a true reason, then they have a true conclusion. (egad... I think I need to quit reading material on logic...) Oh and... in logic... (promise, last statement) If a premise (or statement) is based on emotion, then it can only be an inclusive argument not a deductive argument. Beliefs belong in ethics (rightly) but as far as logic is concerned... It can never be right (valid) or wrong (invalid). Nor can hate be right or wrong. However, an inclusive argument can be influenced to be a stronger or weaker argument for or against something. That is why I am asking that people evaluate why they are choosing their beliefs. The reasons for this belief will either be a strong reason (logically speaking not emotionally) or a weak reason.

Whatever they decide, I would hope that I have at least influenced them to take a second to think about it.

You can leave your tips in the can as you walk by and thanks for listening. Next hour, blues...

Sky~
 
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***Holds up two fingers***

NAA-NUU NAA-NUUU And Live Long and Prosper

Fear is based on instinct. Instinct is is only half way connected to logic. EX.

Yes the bully is bigger then me! Logic--Fact....
Yes he will beat me up! Guesstimation--Probaly.
It will hurt-- compleat guesstamation...
Must run away...Logic--survival

Fear is atleast 1/2 guessing and 1/2 logic. It could go both ways, but can only be changed...not by logic, but by
guesstimation---Creation of courage.
 
You really are taking your logic class too far, maybe you should lay off the logic a little. But then I'm not much of one to talk, seeing as I solve Bolean Algabra equations for fun. There really must be something wrong with me.

But as to the topic I know how that goes seeing as my mother really doesn't like snakes but that is due to some bad experiances she has had in her past. Plus society has ingrained in a lot of us predudices against different things, snakes (unfortunatly), spiders, roaches, and other bugs. We could spend a lot of time sitting around descussing why society has these predudices against these things but it really won't do much good. The point is that as some people have fears of different things and generaly they are not all that rational. Most of the time it is through ignorance, now I will admit that I know a lot less about snakes than most people here so if anyone sees anything wrong with what I say feel free to corect me, but what may lead to a lot of the fears when some people think of snake they think of slimy slithery things with poisen, now we all know that snakes aren't really slimy and that most snakes aren't poisens (I think less than 2% world wide), but education can help with that but as the way with a lot of predudices most people are comfortable with them and hold on to them and there is almost nothing that can really do about it. You can try and educate people and you can show them that their is nothing to fear about them by showing them that they are docile and cute little creatures (though the cute part is opinion :) ) but I wouldn't show them how docile they are with the one that keeps biting you. Ultimatly though it will be up to them to if they want to open them selves up to the idea of snakes as a pet/family member.

WOW thats a long post, sorry for blabing so much in my first post ;)
 
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