Snake prejudice.

Miranda · #1 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 08:14 PM

In a new brilliant snake book i got fro xmas, i wa sreading about nskaes and humans and it said about prejudice, i hadnt ever really thought of it as prejudice for people who hate snakes but it is. People see a snake and think slimey windy evil thing, but people who know them think of them as elegant beatiful creatures. I think this is further proved by people who used to hate snakes but as soon as they were introduced liked them. I think there are oto many programs called thigns like 'killer snakes of teh amazon' etc. there should be a program that provides an honest insight into the wonderful lives of our snakey friends.

Jade01 · #2 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 10:16 PM

i agree 100%

ooh we should our own show....-daydreams about hosting a repile programme-.......

Miranda · #3 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 10:26 PM

An RFUK show would be cool, especially some of the big collections!!!
I remember the story of popcorn the albino burmese, who died because of this prejudice, this kid saw the snake and judged and put action with that judgement, but if that boy had known the snake then i doubt he would have done that.

Jade01 · #4 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 10:43 PM

i think we've got a winner here! ill write 2 the bbc lol!

Trice · #5 (**permalink**) 02-01-2008, 01:13 AM

To be honest, i've lost count the number of times i've heard people say to me that they can't believe i've got snakes as pets.

My dad doesn't care for reptiles so he rarely sees mine.
my mum was originally scared of the snakes, until she saw my first corns when i got them. She was amazed, and still comes in to my room just to look at them, the lizards and the tort.

I've dragged quite a few people into my room, and got them to hold the snakes. Their attitude changed after they had a little hold!

Only 3 people i haven't been able to convince that they're nice animals and not the evil buggers everyone thinks they are!

One is my aunt, she's crazy anyway.
the other is a French farmer i know, he pooed his pants when he saw my snakes. But he was nearly killed by an adder in France.
and the third one is one of my best mates.

mrfluff · #6 (**permalink**) 02-01-2008, 03:00 PM

Some of ours friends were horrified about us keeping snakes, but after seeing them and handling them have changed their minds. I think for a lot of people they've never seen one in the flesh and just decide they don't like them.
My mum is fascinated by ours, but did comment today that "most reptiles aren't cared for properly. Huh? Based on what? I'm a bit concerned how a seemingly intelligent woman can make such an unfounded comment. And seeing as I'm the only person she knows who keeps them!?!?!

Jo

Miranda · #7 (**permalink**) 02-01-2008, 03:10 PM

My Dad was terrified, thought they were vicious bitng things that would constrict anything that touched them, but now he is alot better hes still scared, but he ill touch oscar, and he thinks oscar is bautiful and calm, first impressions can be awful things. At school people tease me because of my love of snkaes, they think that snkaes are boring and freakish, but they just dont know.

Graham · #8 (**permalink**) 02-01-2008, 03:18 PM

I went to Cyprus this summer, the attitude of most Cypriots is that the only good snake is a dead one and they'll go out of their way to kill any snake they see. They associate all snakes with evil and it's easy to see why, look no further than the book of Genesis and the serpent in the Garden of Eden.
It's the same everywhere, thousands of years of religious teaching has made this idea so ingrained in society that even many non-believers accept it.
The church has an awful lot to answer for when it comes to human mistreatment of all animals.

Miranda · #9 (**permalink**) 02-01-2008, 03:27 PM

It seems the only encouraging relgions like the acient egyptians and aztecs are long gone, mind oyu im quite glad that were not sacrificing people, but htey worshipped snakes how did it change ot be that people hate them now!

ratboy · #10 (**permalink**) 02-01-2008, 04:01 PM

I do love totally ludicrous and misinformed posts like this...

"the attitude of most Cypriots is that the only good snake is a dead one and they'll go out of their way to kill any snake they see."

Did you actually get to ask the entire population of Cyprus their views on snakes on your holiday ? I do hope you left some time for sight seeing.

"They associate all snakes with evil and it's easy to see why, look no further than the book of Genesis and the serpent in the Garden of Eden."

The original text actually had it as a 'beast'... it's only one of the many translations of the original text of the bible that turned it into a snake. Given that the animal in the garden of Eden could speak, it's does not take much intelligence to realise that it was not a real snake.

Religions in Cyprus include The Greek orthodox church, Islam, Anglicans, Latin Catholic church of Cyprus, Maronite Church, Armenian Orthodox and the Greek Evangelists.... Not many would be that interested in the book of Genesis translated to Greek from a Jewish bible. But hopefully the Greek translation was better than the English one

"The church has an awful lot to answer for when it comes to human mistreatment of all animals."

Which church ? The church of England ? Did you know that dogs are only mentioned 14 times in the bible, Domestic cats are not mentioned at all but Lions are mentioned 55 times. There are only 8 verses in the entire bible that mentions serpents

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