In December, while visiting a shooting range in Medley, Florida, National Guard Sgt. Valerie Deant came to a horrifying realization: Members of the North Miami Beach police force, who had just left the facility, had been using mugshots of young black men for target practice.
“Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes?” – Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark
Humans often fear what they don’t understand and to most, snakes are a mystery. Snakes rely on crypsis so even when traversing through their world, we rarely see them. This void of direct knowledge is filled by myth and media, which portray snakes as cold-blooded killers and focus on how deadly and dangerous they are. It’s no surprise then that snakes provoke one of the most common phobias, even in the United States where we lack truly deadly serpents.
Though threatened by many of the same issues that affect other wildlife, including habitat loss, climate change, and disease, negative attitudes may be the biggest barrier to snake conservation because it often impedes efforts to address other threats.
For example, public outcry based on fear and misinformation recently halted a scientifically-sound conservation plan for timber rattlesnakes. A similar project at the same location was embraced by the community; but that project involved releasing eagles. Rattlesnakes are no less iconic or important to the ecosystem than eagles. In fact, they may help reduce the incidence of Lyme disease, which affects tens of thousands of people in the United States each year, by reducing the number of rodents that harbor this disease. But facts often play second fiddle to emotions where snakes are concerned.
Snakes are important components of biodiversity, serving as both predators and prey in nearly every ecosystem on earth. Some of the most feared and hated snakes (vipers, a group which includes rattlesnakes) may be the most effective predators on fluctuating prey populations. Unlike most predators, vipers are not territorial; they often share dens to escape freezing winter temperatures and select hunting sites where others have been successful. They live in greater densities than mammal and bird predators, as much as 100-1000 times denser than their mammalian competitors. Infrequent reproductive events (most give birth only once every two to three years) and their ability to fast make them resilient to prey population crashes. So they can have a greater impact on their prey, including those that can spread disease to humans, than their mammalian or avian counterparts.
But snakes are worth saving not because of what they can do for us, but because of who they are.
Adrian, a pregnant Arizona black rattlesnake guards one of her nestmates’ newborns. Photographed by Melissa Amarello.
Snakes, specifically rattlesnakes, share many behaviors with us, behaviors that we value. They have friends. They take care of their kids and their friends’ kids too. Within a community of Arizona black rattlesnakes, individuals do not associate randomly; they have friends (pairs of rattlesnakes observed together more often expected by chance) and individuals they appear to avoid. Mother rattlesnakes keep newborns from straying too far from the nest during the first few days of their lives, only gradually letting them explore farther as they approach time to leave the nest at 10-14 days old. They also defend their young from threats such as squirrels, who harass and may even kill newborns. But mothers aren’t the only ones caring for newborn rattlesnakes — still-pregnant females sharing the communal nest and even visiting males and juveniles assist with parental duties. Yet these gentle, caring parents are subjected to some of the most horrible treatment of any animal.
Each year, tens of thousands of rattlesnakes are taken from the wild to be displayed and slaughtered for entertainment and profit at rattlesnake roundups, which occur throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Alabama. Promoted as folksy, family-friendly fun, these events foster disrespect for native wildlife and the natural world, and are a gross example of wildlife management based on fear, rather than science. Professional hunters, not bound by ‘bag’ or ‘take’ limits, remove snakes from their native habitats and are awarded with cash prizes for bringing in the most and biggest snakes. Most snakes are caught by pouring gasoline into their winter dens, which pollutes surrounding land and water and may impact up to 350 other wildlife species. Rattlesnake roundups depend on the public’s misconception of snakes as dangerous pests that we cannot safely tolerate near our homes. No aspect of these events is sustainable, educational, or necessary.
If promoters and attendees of rattlesnake roundups knew what snakes are really like, would these events continue — who wants to kill a mom or someone’s friend?
World Snake Day is an opportunity to celebrate snakes and raise awareness about their conservation.
It’s no surprise then that snakes provoke one of the most common phobias, even in the United States where we lack truly deadly serpents. – This statement bothered me, especially where OP goes on to talk about rattlesnakes. There are multiple varieties of rattlesnakes in the US, and they’re all deadly. They may not be as dangerous as certain snakes from Asia or Australia, but they’re still deadly. We also have cottonmouths, also known as water moccasins, which are also highly dangerous, deadly and pervasive in the wetter part of the southern US, where rattlesnakes prefer the dryer western US – though I believe they can be found in the east as well.
However, just because they’re deadly doesn’t mean they should all die. But by saying that they aren’t “truly deadly”… it implies a lack of respect. Rattlesnakes and cottonmouths deserve respect because they can kill you. And there are deaths by both types of snake every year.
Nope.
Cottonmouths pose very little danger to adult humans, and this list here shows only two confirmed deaths where a cottonmouth was involved: one in 2015, and the other in 1971. So no, people don’t die of cottonmouth bites “every year.”
Rattlesnake venom is more dangerous, but here, too, statistics matter. Out of estimated 7000-8000 (yes seven to eight thousand) bites each year around five people die.
If you look through the list, another interesting thing sticks out: the vast majority of the people who died by snake bite in the US are men, which suggests that there are some behavioral factors at play. As in: man see snake, man kill snake. Only in the process, man also get bit by snake. In most cases, they live. Some aren’t so lucky. Snakes however fare significantly less well in these situations.
Now I’d like you invite you to check out the list of reported fatalities from dog attacks, which goes on much longer, and has upwards of 30 deaths each year that have been reported in the past decade. Nobody is describing dogs as lethal though.
The article was talking about rattlesnakes being social, having friendships and families, and trying to teach people to appreciate them for more than just their venom.
Now what the author of the article that I reposted probably meant (and me not being the author, this is just my interpretation) by “truly deadly serpents” would be snakes such as the inland taipan or the black mamba etc. – you can peruse the list of most dangerous snakes of the world and see for yourself that none of them come from the American continent.
Those snakes have venoms that are extremely potent and kill fast, where the chances of someone surviving the bite are very low, as opposed to rattlesnake bites. Many of the snakes on this list are also quite high-strung and will bite in defense with much less provocation, often repeatedly, delivering more venom with each bite.
Compared to them the rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, copperheads, and other venomous snakes that live in the US are much less deadly. And honestly, saying that they aren’t “truly deadly” doesn’t imply lack of respect, unless you’re only willing to respect life forms that can kill you.
Everyone going shopping on Black Friday, be aware of three things:
The retail workers are working 12 hours shifts. We are threatened with losing our jobs if we don’t show up unless we’re dying in the hospital. I had an assistant manager show up with fucking strep because he would’ve been fired otherwise. Yes, he did infect 7 and hospitalize 2 coworkers; who knows how many members of the public he infected.
The stores have, maybe, 5 of that special cheap thing you’re after. Corporate does this on purpose, and stores are not allowed to order enough. The prices aren’t even that much lower. They lie about how expensive something is to fool you into thinking you’re getting a discount. You aren’t.
Most of the workers you will come across will be new hires for the sole purpose of being bodies for about three months before they’re fired. They actually don’t know anything because they’ve been working there for maybe two weeks, and have had no real training. I was once hired at Staples a week before Black Friday and expected to know how to deal with phones, coupons, the online ordering site, and AS400 after five 6-hour shifts. This is the kind of person you will likely be dealing with at Black Friday.
Do me and my retail family a favor and don’t shop Black Friday. Any company that needs a sale day like Black Friday to get their sales out of the red doesn’t deserve to be in business.
This also goes for anyone that works shipment too. We’re suddenly expected to stay as late as they want you to even if they know you don’t have a car and rely on a ride to get you to and from work and know you can’t stay late. Shipment workers will suddenly start getting berated for not getting things done and it is by far the most stressful time to be a shipment worker for any store. Especially when they throw in new hires that don’t know how to process things and are expected to work at the same pace as the people that have worked there for a while.
Retail is shit around the holidays, especially Black Friday
ok fellow millenials, it’s time to kill black friday
LET’S KILL BLACK FRIDAY
This goes double for Thanksgiving. More and more places are opening late on Thanksgiving; Gamestop is opening at 3 PM on Thanksgiving. My employer is and always has been open 24 hours on Thanksgiving.
Sometimes going out is unavoidable, please be as kind and understanding to the people forced to work as possible.
Not too long ago, my friend Bella came out as aromantic to me, and now I’ve got some things to say.
I was the one who told her what aromantic means, because I was explaining different sexual orientations to her. I remember saying, “Asexualiy is when you have romantic attraction, but no sexual attraction.”
Bella immedently, without missing a beat, asked, “Is there an opposite to that?”
I asked what she meant, and she asked if there was a term for sexual attraction but no romantic attraction. I told her about aromantics. She got weirdly quiet, then excused herself.
Not two weeks later I was heading to my boat. I was supposed to meet Bella and another one of our muteral friends there for a day of fishing.
As soon as I was in earshot, I saw Bella storming off the boat, and our other friend standing there like an idiot. Boi had no idea what was happening.
Anyway, Bella isn’t looking where she’s going and walks smack dab into me. That’s when I realized she was crying. Puffy red eyes, wet cheeks, the whole nine yards… And if you know anything about Bells, she does not cry. Ever.
She’s been through some serious crap in her life, and she does not cry. She’s tough as nails. Bella has a steel core. She does not not cry. I’ve seen her fall off a roof and break her arm before, not a single tear. I can’t stress this enough, Bella. Doesn’t. Cry.
So seeing her in tears shook me. I took her by the shoulders and escorted her somewhere more private where we could talk. We ended up in the women’s restroom, which was weird as fuck for me, because haven’t been in a woman’s rest room for years. Luckily it was empty, and I’m realistic, I know I don’t pass so well, so I don’t think anyone would have said anything anyway.
Before I can even ask her what’s wrong she hugs me around my middle and burys her face in my hoodie. Then, in a voice I can only describe as traumatized, she says, “I think I’m broken.”
I’ve never seen her in so much pain, and Bella and I are CLOSE. She’s one of my dearest friends. She’s like my little sister, but if she’s like my sister, our other muteral friend is like her twin. He and Bella have know each other WAY longer, they’re practically inseparable. They come as a pair. They’re a duo. They’re a package deal.
Appearently, said muteral friend asked Bella out and forcefully kissed her. She shoved him off, and told him she’s aromantic, which she only recently figured out. She wasn’t ready to be out, but this muteral friend left her no choice. She tried telling him no, and he didn’t listen. Bella saw no other option.
Quote on quote, this is what he said to Bella. “That’s okay. You just haven’t dated me yet. We’ve been like, unofficially together for years. You’re probably just freaked out that it’s finally going somewhere.”
After that I’m not 100% clear on what happened, but apparently Bella kept saying no Nd trying to explain herself, but he kept insisting he could ‘fix her.’
Eventudally she started crying and stormed away. That’s when I found her.
Keep in mind, this was her first experience coming out, and her best, closest friend insisted he could fix her and forcefully kissed her. I found out later he also implied corrective rape would ‘solve the problem.’
Bella was traumatized. She’s still traumatized. I tried to make her feel better by buying her an aro pride shirt, and taking her go a local LGBTQ+ hang out. I wanted her to be around like minded people, so she could see she wasn’t broken, and her identity deserved to be respected.
Instead of a warm, welcoming environment… The first thing someone said to her was, “This place is for REAL lgbt people. You don’t belong here.” He also implied she wasn’t human.
Just think about that for a minute. Her first experiences with being an out aromantic have been limited to;
A person she trusted more than anyone forcing himself upon her, claiming she was ill, and needed to be fixed. (Raped.)
Sobbing in my arms in the women’s restroom because she thought she was broken and defective.
Being told she wasn’t welcomed in LGBTQ+ spaces and called inhuman.
This isn’t what I want for her. Bella deserves better than this. She needs a support system, not all this crap. I’ve spent the past week trying to undo all the damage exclusionists, arophobes, and people she trusted did.
Aromantics and asexuals belong in the LGBTQ+ community. You literally cannot change my mind.
Did I already queue this? Dunno. But let me say that I’ve never stood by while gatekeepers try to well, gatekeep.
I didn’t put up with it as a teenager really into sci-fi, I didn’t put up with it from the dude bros in game and comic shops, and I certainly won’t stand for it in my LGBT+ community.
bro, a lot of men NEED to go to therapy not just for their own sake but for the sake of every person they have power over in their lives
if you are a grown ass adult man and you refuse to handle your personal issues that directly negatively impact the people around in varying degrees of harm, even leading up to abuse, that’s YOUR responsibility to fix. no one is saying abusive men dont have ‘reasons’ to be the way they are, but that doesnt change the fact that no one who isnt them can fix their shit
ForLoveFromFear 
