Thanks for the good post, Hancle. I really hate to see people try to kill every snake they see.
My volunteer job at the nature center had me holding them and giving demonstrations to schoolkids on reptiles. Only accident I had with the snakes was one time I was not paying close attention (talking when I should have been looking) when I was feeding a dead (but warm) mouse to a king snake. The king snake (about 5 feet long but harmless) swallowed the mouse and before I realized it, the snake had half my thumb in it's mouth and was swallowing as fast as possible. Now, a snake's teeth curve backwards so prey (and thumbs) cannot pull free. I had to have help actually opening the snake's mouth so I could get my thumb out without tearing it open or hurting the snake. The kids thought it was all part of the demonstration!
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