Open Letter: To Those That Hate Snakes

Hello friends. First let me preface this with saying, you do not have to like snakes. It’s ok if you don’t. You can be scared of them even. I’m not writing this to try and change your perception. I understand it. What I do want to accomplish here, is to explain a couple of reasons why, even if you hate them…you should respect them, respect their place in our ecosystem, and leave them be. Meaning please don’t harm them, and certainly do not kill them. Not only are they very likely protected in your state, but they also hold a very important place in the ecosystem, and sometimes are endangered. So I’d like to go over a couple positives about them, and even discuss non lethal ways to deal with them if it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t expect you to love them by the end of this open letter. I just ask that you keep an open mind and try to learn to respect them enough to understand their importance.

Question…why do you hate snakes? And as a follow up, why do you hate them so strongly that you want to kill them no matter what? I want you to really honestly think about those questions to yourself, and answer them. I used to believe that many hated them because of some instinctual connection to our ancestors. Evidence however has shown me that this is simply not the case. I’ve seen the reaction of kids of all ages for the last 2 decades and now realize it’s not some fight or flight reaction, it’s a taught/ learned response. Most kids are amazed by these animals, before they are taught different. Very few people have actually had a bad experience with a snake. The vast majority have hate for them from lack of education and understanding coupled with the drilling of this hate in their minds using myths and lies. So really think about the questions I asked in the beginning of this paragraph in relation to that. Most likely you’ve never been bitten by a snake. Some of you may have rarely even seen them. So my point is your fear and hate is not from an experience, but a taught and conditioned response. The fact is snakes do not chase you. Quite the opposite, actually they want to get away from you. But sometimes they try to get past you to where their shelter is, resulting in the confusion of “being chased”. In the eyes of a snake you are a threat or a larger predator. They want zero to do with you. When they feel cornered or desperate, only then will they become defensive and strike. If you’re respecting them and their distance, you will most likely never ever have an issue at all.

Now that I touched on the illusion of a danger they present, I’d like to address the biggest reason to leave them be. In this day and age, with development and also people harming them, many species of snakes are declining in numbers. This is bad for many reasons, but a huge one is their place in our ecosystem. Everything works in balance. One of the worst things that can happen to the balance of the scale, is predators vanishing. Once you have no snakes, you then have population booms of many disease vector species. Mice and rats being the big 2. But it goes beyond that. Snakes are the cornerstone of many medical advancements, including ones that have affected your(including friends and family) life in ways you never knew. Perhaps the biggest…would be issues involving blood flow, such as heart attacks and strokes. In the US, 2 out of the 3 meds used for most types of heart attacks…come from snake venom. If that wasn’t enough people affected for you, snake venoms are also being developed for cancer treatments and show incredible promise. The mind boggling thing is that those only scratch the surface of snake venom medical uses and research , and yet already affect an unfathomable amount of people. In fact, almost every single person reading this I can guarantee has had their lives touched by these treatments. How many of you have people in your lives affected by heart disease or strokes…even cancer? Really…think about it.

I don’t want to go on forever because my goal is for people who actually don’t like snakes to be the ones reading this and don’t want them to lose attention. Let’s be honest, I haven’t changed your opinion of snakes here, we both know that. But did I plant a seed of respect for them???. Do you understand now that they aren’t out to get you, and actually are much more scared of you? At the very least I would hope you know now how important they are medically and can see why killing them at the end of the day only harms us. Besides, did you know that the chance of a negative encounter with a snake is extremely extremely rare, but increases dramatically when you try to deal with them(such as trying to kill them…bites happen incredibly more often when you try to kill them or mess with them at all). Knowing you’re likely still nervous though, let me help you have less interaction. There’s no way at all to keep them away from your house if you live in an area where they are common. The good news is there are ways to make it less likely. With out going to deep into it…the best way is actually to address their food. Make your property less attractive to rodents, and in turn the snakes will not be around as much. Wood piles, long grass, bird seed on the ground, all these things attract rodents, and much more. So rid your property of rodents as well as cover for snakes and rodents, and in turn snakes won’t come around as much. Also educate yourself and your kids on the local species of snakes, and ones to stay away from them.

My contact information can be found in my profile on this blog site. Please feel free to contact myself or other snake experts to help you make your property less attractive to snakes. But if you do see them…all I ask…leave them be. Just simply walk away, or around them. I promise you they will be perfectly happy as they slither away from you and you walk away from them. Snakes are simply trying to survive like the rest of us. Their importance is incredible and they deserve to be respected like any other animal. We can co-exist. We must.