[redwitch]

No one ever said pythons and boas were harmless -- they're wild animals -- but attacks are rare if the snake is properly cared for. More people die annually of dog bites (31 in 2011; 38 in 2012 in the U.S.) than are injured by pet snakes. Just recently a zookeeper was killed by an elephant he had worked with for several years. The point is that there is no law in having a snake out in public and, therefore, the young man was doing nothing illegal and could not and should not be banned from the squares (although I stand by my comment that what he did was harmful to his snake). That doesn't mean I like the idea of large snake being at the squares, it simply means that unless a law or rule of some sort is made banning reptiles, he has every right to be there.

Citing stories about reptile attacks is totally irrelevant. So long as the young man had a license to keep the snake (which we'll probably never know), he was within his rights.

Again, I'm sorry the snake frightened you. I can imagine that seeing a large snake draped around someone's shoulders could be shocking at the very least and it is perfectly reasonable to have gotten as far away from the snake as possible. But it still stands that snakes are legally allowed to be kept as pets; that they are allowed in public; and that the squares in The Villages are open to the public.