Hey all...

Very rarely do I write a blog entry out of sheer anger but now I am.  Yesterday I read/heard a story (from a Grand Rapids TV station) that upset me...a lot.

It's no secret I am a huge animal lover.  I am at the zoo often for live shots and am usually holding something creepy, crawly, or some sort of reptile.  I love reptiles...they are truly as passion.  In fact, I seriously considered becoming a Herpetologist (reptile scientist) before I considered a career in news.  Yes, I even traveled to the Amazon in Peru to study some of the reptiles there.  Again, reptiles are incredibly cool and beautiful animals- especially snakes.

Yesterday a Grand Rapids news station aired a piece about how a "python" (it was actually a boa constrictor) was found in a street in a Grand Rapids neighborhood.  Two guys in a truck saw the snake...and ran over it - 10 times.  The snake tried to bite the truck (I would too if you were running me over).  The losers called 911 and police came and shot the snake to death.

This story sickens me.

Why not call Animal Control so they could pick it up and try to adopt it out?  Obviously the snake had escaped from it's cage and was in the street.  With that said, boa constrictors are very, very docile and easy snakes - making them the a great pet for people who are interested in snakes.  This snake was only 6 feet long (average boa size) and no one in the neighborhood was in danger (the snake was too small to do any serious damage to anyone/anything).  If it's cool to shoot random stray animals then every stray dog I see in a neighborhood must be shot and killed.  Fair is fair, right?  Who knows is that dog is dangerous!  Well, what if it was someone's pet?  The snake was and it was killed (they're from South America so clearly don't live here).  More people are injured from dogs every year than pet snakes.  Again, pointless.

Snakes are amazing animals, don't attack unless ticked off (i.e. the truck), and many make awesome pets (I should know...I've had DOZENS over the years including a 10 foot boa constrictor named "Doc"... and the picture above is with "Farley," a 100 lb., 12-foot albino Burmese Python, at the Potawatomi Zoo). I've asked people "why don't you like snakes?" and they reply "I don't know...I just don't."  Every person has their opinion and that is great but to think they are all dangerous or all slimy (in fact, NONE are slimy but rather warm and smooth), is just ludicrous. 

It just makes me sad the first thing most people do when they see a snake is kill it - no matter how big it is.  It was a gorgeous snake (at that size was worth A LOT of money) and was probably a beloved pet.  People said 'what if it ate a dog?'  Well, what is the dog doing off it's leash?  If it was a 12 foot snake that might be a different story but it wasn't.  I know it's not a story involving a human victim and it's just an animal (I'm not a PETA member) but that's besides the point.

It makes me sad.  I'm not riled up because a snake died - it's one snake.  However It's upsetting this behavior continues and the first thing people do when they see a snake is grab a shovel - or in this case - a truck and guns.  I know people are going to argue this and that is fine but senseless killings prove nothing. 

Ahh, it's good to vent.  Thanks for listening to be blab.

JS