One thing you wish you had known..

[ssssnakeluvr]

I wish there had been more books on reptiles....I read every on in town....which wasn't much...I lived in a small town in Idaho.

[GartersRock]

That even thought the adults where fine. That goldfish would kill my first litter of 12...

[infernalis]

That all the stupid stories I had been taught to believe about "Spotted Adders" were totally false!!

Even my mother who was very fond of garter snakes used to get all riled up at the sight of an Eastern Milk snake, "They are poison, If it bites you it will kill you"

Because of this false information, I spent most of my life afraid of picking one up And when I did, I always wore gloves, threw them into a bucket as quick as I could and relocated it.

Even though I was not about to handle or touch one, I always chose to move them instead of letting the neighbors chop them up with a shovel...

Then I learned that they were harmless, Was no longer afraid of them, I started looking for one, and it was like they all vanished!

Maybe thats why I love my Carmella so damn much.. She is the sweetest most docile milk snake I have ever encountered, and her babies are too.

She has never offered to bite me, even when I pick at her bad sheds!

Repeat all of that with Water snakes (Nerodia) as well, I was always told they were a dangerous species...