Well, I am glad that there seem to be a number of people who appreciate and respect snakes on their land. Just one other thing that some people may not consider: Snakes in general do not travel greate distances unlike coyotes, foxes, and raccoons. For that reason it is possible to wipe out local populations. When the mammal predators mentioned previously disperse, it can be for many miles around. Shooting these predators has little if any effect at all on their overall populations in an area. They tend to quickly replace each other and have a high compensatory reproduction ability when populations are artificially low due to high harvest. Snakes on the other hand do not have a high compensatory reproduction ability so once they are gone it takes longer for populations to recover. Many snake species do not exist in areas they normally would inhabit because of indiscriminate reductions by fearful people.
Thanks to all of you who left positive replies. I don't mean to sound like a crusader for wildlife but, this is something I felt should be addressed. I feel I am seeing too many posts that people are just killing the snakes without really having good justification to do so. Like I mentioned before, I am a sportsman, I harvest animals and protect my land in a manner that is biologically sound. I know that when I harvest something that it is not in danger of being over harvested or eliminated.
Keep this going or at least try to help others understand why topics like this are important. It really comes down to maintaining wild diversity and helping to maintain healthy ecosystems around our properties. Our health is determined by the health of the land we live on and it is all inclusive. "BE A STEWARD OF THE LAND AND NOT A CANCER UPON IT"
