Absolutely. I was offering it as evidence against the claim that a person can kill whatever they want on their own property, not as a guide book.
I understand the premise of "educating yourself", but I do not think that the average person is expected to spend hours and hours of research to learn to identify all of the reptiles on the endangered list, unless there is a specific species that is especially prevalent in your area. I also think it depends on the zoning of your area...or the type of community...rural, urban, suburban, etc.
Again, absolutely. We agree completely.
"Education" doesn't have to mean that you must memorize every single species of native wildlife in your area, along with all the attendant rules and regulations. It DOES mean that, if you are going to live in areas where there are wild animals, you should make a reasonable effort to learn about those wild animals and rational means of coexisting with and/or managing those animals.
For instance with snakes, a few pertinent facts to learn would include:
1. In most areas of the country, if it doesn't have a triangular head then it isn't venomous. In a few areas of the country you also need to remember that a red/yellow/black banded snake is venomous ONLY if the red and yellow bands touch each other.
2. In this country, if it isn't a venomous snake, then it can't seriously harm you unless you get seriously stupid (like one idiot I heard of who was showing off to his buddies by putting his snake's head in his mouth!). Even if the snake does manage to bite you, which does hurt, you are not going to die of "blood poisoning". A healthy respect is certainly called for -- but hysteria isn't.
3. There are many ways of dealing with unwanted snakes, aside from killing them. Sometimes killing is a reasonable solution -- as with poisonous snakes close to a home. Other times, other alternatives may be preferable.
I have no problem with people being afraid of snakes. Fear is a natural reaction to many things. But, again, humans have big brains for a reason. We are smart enough that we don't have to react automatically based on our fear alone -- we can think through our fear and act rationally in spite of that fear.
So, instead of criticizing each other, consider that the initial question was an attempt to become educated for the future about that type of snake. Rather than criticize for taking the action that was taken, perhaps we should look at the fact that this was an opportunity to learn about snakes.
Once again, you and I agree completely. The OP came here asking questions -- exactly the right thing to do. IMHO she did the wrong thing by killing the snake, but as I mentioned in another thread -- we all make mistakes. The important thing is not to criticize, but to educate.
