Try working at a zoo, and having to listen to people say that stuff and not being able to tell them to FO like you want to... but yeah, generally I visibly wince when that kind of ignorant verbal vomit is spewed upon my ears.
Yeah, whenever people see the burms at the aquarium I work at and they comment negatively, I tell them how snakes are so beneficial and most aren't dangerous, etc..
I find the most ignorant are old women, not just towards snakes, but towards the sharks, rays, lorikeets..
I used to be terrified of snakes because everyone is taught to hate them and kill them on sight. The only place that snakes were tolerated were in the zoos. Even then many people are afraid to get close to the glass. I eventually owned a king snake and it changed my mind.
The brainwashed lady you are talking to has the same mentality of fear. Yes snakes are "KILLERS" and so is her feline. However,snakes only kill to eat. Yes snakes are let loose by people that don't want them anymore. This is fact. The state of Florida actually has a group of herpetologists and snake owners and breeders catching pythons and recording the numbers found. They have found that the pythons are established. The cold kills off the larger snakes that are exposed. The younger snakes survive by geting deeper in the ground.
Cats are also let loose because they are unwanted and populations are out of control.
There is a documentary about cats that shows they kill just to kill. The native populations of wildlife including snakes are almost massacred by cats that are allowed to roam. The documentary showed cat owners keeping track of the number of animals being killed and also brought back by the cats and what type of animal. The average cat killed 150-180 animals per month while the top record went to a cat in Britain at 300-400 animals monthly. The cat never killed less than 300 monthly.
Now, since she wants to be extreme...tell her to get outside and help catch cats and kittens and go door to door of cat owners and educate them about the damage being done.
How about the urban legend about the girl who has the pet snake, who let the snake sleep with her, then stopped eating, and was stretched out on the bed. She calls the vet and he informs her that the snake is fasting and stretched out to size her up(seeing if it can fit her inside it)
And tells her "Get out ASAP, it wants to kill you!"
Every time i tell someone I own a python (A ball python) they tell me this ridiculous tale I inform them nothing about that is true, makes no sense and that my python is extremely calm and a great pet,
In which I get, well what does it eat?... With a discussed look on their face
There is no appealing to most people with fact, they all want fiction
Yes. Most people are idiots. That stupid *****(censored so I don't get any infractions, well, at least I hope I don't) would have probably received a pissed off and vulgar lecture from me. Mad morons of the world.
We can't have big snakes here but I get plenty of comments about my monitor, some people have even told me that if it wasn't in a cage they would kill it.
