A Brutal End

[Tyrel26]

I too have thought of advertising for garter removal but as you said after a point where do you put the snakes...Im sure you would have no problem with me sending you a few of these nice maritime garters tho lol

have you considered just having an open house kinda thing? try to educate the kids in your area. it may be too late to change some old ways of thinking but if you can reach the kids they can scream and yell and cause all kinds of trouble for their parents if they knew they were hurting an animal they shouldn't. My dad wouldn't even kill a mouse around me as a kid cause he knew how much trouble id make for him about it lol
(if you already do this and i am unaware of it, forget what i said lol)


people do the cruel things they do mostly out of fear and lack of understanding, replace these things with appreciation and information and then you can truly make a difference.

[guidofatherof5]

I too have thought of advertising for garter removal but as you said after a point where do you put the snakes...Im sure you would have no problem with me sending you a few of these nice maritime garters tho lol

have you considered just having an open house kinda thing? try to educate the kids in your area. it may be too late to change some old ways of thinking but if you can reach the kids they can scream and yell and cause all kinds of trouble for their parents if they knew they were hurting an animal they shouldn't. My dad wouldn't even kill a mouse around me as a kid cause he knew how much trouble id make for him about it lol
(if you already do this and i am unaware of it, forget what i said lol)


people do the cruel things they do mostly out of fear and lack of understanding, replace these things with appreciation and information and then you can truly make a difference.

Neat idea and one I will have to think about. I usually get a couple visitors a month that want a tour of my snakes. That's just from word of mouth. One of the other deputies took a tour with his wife. She now wants to help me on a feed day. She said she had no idea garter snakes were so cool. She thought they were always wild and could never be calm. When I opened one of my enclosures where my big females live and they came out and on me she was amazed. It was interesting to me as my snakes are usually wary of new faces. This time they didn't have a problem with these people.

[Tyrel26]

Most of the people that have came to visit me think of snakes as slimy and gross and evil....when they arrive; when i go to take one out they nearly run away but as i tell them about the snakes and how each has it own personality and so on, they become more and more interested. Before long I have people coming to visit my snakes and Im the one they take a quick look at lol.

Its a very basic instinct to fear what we don't understand, sadly this often results in death. As much as I hate to see someone hurt an innocent animal for no reason (i am a firm believer in hunting for food) I know that it will do far more good to explain to that person that his/her actions were unnecessary and that animal will cause no harm.

I work with a guy that is terrified of snakes and he told me about a huge garter he seen on the road that was at least 3 feet long (he said 4-5 so i figured about 3 lol) and he turned his car in order to kill the snake and then backed up to hit it again. My first thought was to punch this guy in the head and start yelling at him about being evil and stupid but instead I told him that he had killed an old female snake that was most likely carrying a full batch of babies...I could tell that he felt really bad and really stupid. I have since taught this guy a lot about garters and he seems very interested, he actually wants to go out herping with me sometime.

[guidofatherof5]

Most of the people that have came to visit me think of snakes as slimy and gross and evil....when they arrive; when i go to take one out they nearly run away but as i tell them about the snakes and how each has it own personality and so on, they become more and more interested. Before long I have people coming to visit my snakes and Im the one they take a quick look at lol.

Its a very basic instinct to fear what we don't understand, sadly this often results in death. As much as I hate to see someone hurt an innocent animal for no reason (i am a firm believer in hunting for food) I know that it will do far more good to explain to that person that his/her actions were unnecessary and that animal will cause no harm.

I work with a guy that is terrified of snakes and he told me about a huge garter he seen on the road that was at least 3 feet long (he said 4-5 so i figured about 3 lol) and he turned his car in order to kill the snake and then backed up to hit it again. My first thought was to punch this guy in the head and start yelling at him about being evil and stupid but instead I told him that he had killed an old female snake that was most likely carrying a full batch of babies...I could tell that he felt really bad and really stupid. I have since taught this guy a lot about garters and he seems very interested, he actually wants to go out herping with me sometime.

Very nice.


My biggest problem is the people who won't listen at all. They, with a angry look on their face says "I don't care if they are harmless, I kill them anyway" I work with a lot of those people. They do not believe any snake can have a redeeming quality.

[Tyrel26]

Thats why we have to reach the kids now. Even if an old dog can learn new tricks, its still easier to house train a puppy.

[guidofatherof5]

Thats why we have to reach the kids now. Even if an old dog can learn new tricks, its still easier to house train a puppy.

I couldn't agree more.

[infernalis]

They do not believe any snake can have a redeeming quality.

What a shallow existance...don't even know what they are missing.

[Laura]

Steve you should start up a charity to help you with your rescue program, I'd be willing to donate GARTER PROTECTION LEAGUE!

[Nafun]

I'm sickened by the way people treat snakes, but casual cruelty in front of a small child doesn't always create a new generation of reptile haters.

Watching my mother club to death a garter in the back yard, and watching my uncle shoot turtles turned me into a reptile lover. It amazes me that people would rather have mice in their house than snakes in their yard.

[gartermorphs]

I'm sickened by the way people treat snakes, but casual cruelty in front of a small child doesn't always create a new generation of reptile haters.

Watching my mother club to death a garter in the back yard, and watching my uncle shoot turtles turned me into a reptile lover. It amazes me that people would rather have mice in their house than snakes in their yard.

same my love of reptiles came from my dad trying to kill a snake and me running and picking it up with bare hand and showing him that it wont hurt you. I love them because i knew that alot of people are afraid of them and kill them because they are so misunderstood.