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Animal rights people, how would you deal with this situation?
Anyone can answer (of course), but I'm curious what people who "wouldn't hurt a fly" would do.
I had an Eastern Diamondback coiled around a flower pot right next to my front door. My fiancee nearly kicked it/stepped on it before we knew it was there. I spent a half hour chasing it through the azalea bushes down the length of the house and managed to chop off its head with a shovel. Then I drank bourbon. It was a beautiful snake, tan with reddish-brown diamonds, between five and six feet long, and I felt kind of bad about killing it, especially since it was relatively well-behaved.
What I did was very dangerous. Trying to trap it would have been much more dangerous because I have no experience. It takes 20-30 minutes to get to the hospital from here, and I put the odds of that hospital having anti-venom at 50-50. It's another two hours (by car) to a hospital that I know has anti-venom. Letting it go free, knowing that it likes being near the house, was out of the question by my way of thinking. I have never successfully convinced Animal Control to even come get a stray dog or litter of kittens, and I've heard that they won't deal with anything other than cats and dogs, so calling them was out of the question (my tax dollars at work).
I have since had a baby Diamondback on the railing of my back deck (yes, they're born with a full load of venom), and the neighbors have reported pigmy rattlers and water moccasins. My question is, with pigmy rattlers, cottonmouths and that baby's siblings around, what am I supposed to do? I don't like killing them; I just can't think of any other way to ensure that I don't lose a dog, a limb, or worse. Would you do the same?
5 Answers
- ?Lv 51 decade agoFavourite answer
Honestly, I'd leave them there. They shouldn't have to die just so that you can feel happy and safe. YOU are probably making the snakes feel scared, AND you kill them. Should you die so that they can feel safe and happy?
You and the snakes can coexist. Keep your doors closed so that they don't get into your house, and just watch where you're walking when you go outside.
I live in an area with some of the most dangerous snakes in the world. Last week, we found an Eastern Brown snake in our house. This is the second most deadly land snake in the world. We opened the door for it and left it, and in a few minutes it found its way outside. No death necessary. Often these snakes sit on our front door step, as the step gets very warm and they like to bask in the sun there. We just leave them alone.
So if I was in your position, I would have left the snake where it was, and I just would have been careful. If it's a choice between just watching where I walk and taking a life, I'll choose to just watch where I walk. It's not difficult.
- 5 years ago
You are saying that no one saw the cat being attacked by the dogs you are accusing of doing the act. Now my question is this. Is it because these dogs are pit bulls and running loose that you say ok they did it? Ok the one dog had scratches on him. How old were the scratches and how can if be proved that the cat was the one that did the damage? I'm not saying that the dogs didn't do the killing. I'm saying that it can't be proven that the dogs are the ones that killed the cat 100%. No animal control officer is going to take the dogs without proof that they are guilty of the crime. Sure the owner should be fined for the animals running at large. You are also assuming that if the dogs attacked the cat that they will attack a child. Now I think that is based on the stories and what not that you have read about pit bull attacks. Have these dogs attacked people before?
- Anonymous1 decade ago
Maybe you should at least try animal control not only to save your life, but to save the snakes. Im sure they didn't want to be born near your porch, but that is quite the sticky situation you are in. If I were you I would have just waited for the snake to leave...
- somathusLv 71 decade ago
I have no problem with this. If they could realistically injure or possibly kill you or a member of your family, you have to take them out. I am all for humane treatment of animals, but some people get too carried away with it.
With that many poisonous snakes around, I would look into moving.