[redwitch]

Originally Posted by handieman

The Developer seems to control everything else IN the squares, why not snakes for God's sake. Some people are deathly afraid of snakes and that's understandable. Folks come to squares to be entertained or just relax and should not be frightened by whatever. I see no reason why an officer or village watch person could not go up to the owner and ask nicely to please show off his pets elsewhere.
God forbid two of these peaceful pets escape and breed here in The Villages. We wont go into that frightful thought
John

And some people are deadly afraid of dogs. Should we ban them as well?

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by handieman

The Developer seems to control everything else IN the squares, why not snakes for God's sake. Some people are deathly afraid of snakes and that's understandable. Folks come to squares to be entertained or just relax and should not be frightened by whatever. I see no reason why an officer or village watch person could not go up to the owner and ask nicely to please show off his pets elsewhere.
God forbid two of these peaceful pets escape and breed here in The Villages. We wont go into that frightful thought
John

About three days of 18 degree weather should take care of that situation.

[BobAllen1290]

Originally Posted by PJUCTH

I always thought the actual entertainment area was private. They have no smoking rules as well as rules that state you can not bring your own coolers. They have announcments about it at every break.

If the entertainment area was ever private, which I doubt that it is, that all went out the door when Morse Industries began accepting tax money from Sumter County Tourism to help pay for the nightly acts at LSL & Brownwood. That little inconvenient truth is played each night during the announcements and is printed in The Daily Sun's monthly rundown of entertainment at the squares. Once they started taking the county's tax money..all bets are off and ANYBODY from ANYWHERE can definitely come in once that tax money is in play.

[Mikeod]

Here's what I glean from the OP's description. A group of young adults were gathered near the dance area, but not on it. One of them had a pet snake around his neck. The presence of the snake scared the OP. Period.

Posts that attribute malicious intent by the young man are jumping to a conclusion not supported by the description given. If the intent was to "scare the old people" wouldn't it be better for the snake to be carried around the dance area or seats? Since the snake was obviously a pet, why would you think he cares so little that he would allow it to escape and be lost?

Posts that malign the police do them a disservice. If the snake is not prohibited from the area by law or regulation, they have no reason to ask the man to remove it because one or two people express concern about its presence. They are there to enforce the law, not cater to personal likes/dislikes. Now, if the presence of the snake was causing widespread panic, different story.

Do I think it was a smart thing to bring the snake to the square? Nope. But, I sometimes shudder remembering things I did as a teenager or young adult. Do I think it was a dangerous thing to do? Maybe for the snake, but not for the people there.

[BobAllen1290]

Originally Posted by zonerboy

Young people (high school upper classmen, college aged kids, and so forth) are very prone to attention seeking behavior. They favor outrageous clothing, weird haircuts and colors, facial piercings, etc. They talk loud, laugh loud, and tend towards other forms of loud noises. Showing off is expected, and attempts to shock adults is commonplace. But for the most part they are harmless. I'm sure the snake was in more danger of being injured than any human person at the square. Get a grip, for goodness sake!

Gee-Golly-Gosh-WOW! Sounds just like those people who live in TV now who grew up in the 60's and early 70's. Better throw them out of TV almost immediately. Hippie Scum!

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by redwitch

And some people are deadly afraid of dogs. Should we ban them as well?

Hoooooo boy, Dee!

[John_W]

I haven't read all 80 posts so I don't know if this has been mentioned. I do see statements that the police are powerless to act or do anything. My understanding is in Florida boa constrictors are classified as exotic pets and a license is required to own one. I don't see why if the police were alerted to the presence of a large snake in a public area, they couldn't at least ask the owner if they had a permit and then let them know that the snake was making the patrons of the square uneasy.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by mikeod;77***7

Here's what I glean from the OP's description. A group of young adults were gathered near the dance area, but not on it. One of them had a pet snake around his neck. The presence of the snake scared the OP. Period.

Posts that attribute malicious intent by the young man are jumping to a conclusion not supported by the description given. If the intent was to "scare the old people" wouldn't it be better for the snake to be carried around the dance area or seats? Since the snake was obviously a pet, why would you think he cares so little that he would allow it to escape and be lost?

Posts that malign the police do them a disservice. If the snake is not prohibited from the area by law or regulation, they have no reason to ask the man to remove it because one or two people express concern about its presence. They are there to enforce the law, not cater to personal likes/dislikes. Now, if the presence of the snake was causing widespread panic, different story.

Do I think it was a smart thing to bring the snake to the square? Nope. But, I sometimes shudder remembering things I did as a teenager or young adult. Do I think it was a dangerous thing to do? Maybe for the snake, but not for the people there.

I agree with you 100%. You have nailed this whole thing. Very well put.

[firebiker]

Yes, I think DOGS should not be allowed at the squares.

[graciegirl]

sigh. I thought Mikeod had it all handled.

[2BNTV]

I hate snakes!!!

I was wondering if this could be considered a nuisance or disorderly conduct on the part of the snake owner by the police. I don't see why they shouldn't have looked into this matter.

If this person thought he was being humorous, then he has a perverse sense of humor. Scaring elderly people is not funny. Humor has taken a downward trend in recent years. IMHO

[Carl in Tampa]

Originally Posted by wannab

I wonder what would happen if said snake lunged at someone who had a legal concealed weapon causing them to be in fear of their life (George Zimmerman for example?) Could they be arrested if they shot the snake? How about if they shot the snakes owner?

The short answer is "yes,"

You can always be charged with a crime. You may have a good defense which prevents you from being convicted, but by the time you go through a trial you will have gone through great inconvenience and spent a lot of money. Ask George Zimmerman.

Having a snake "lunge" at you would not be justification for killing it, so if that is the extent of the scenario you would probably be convicted of the crime of "killing an animal belonging to another."

If it were actually wrapped around your body and you killed it you would probably be able to convince a jury that you were in fear for your life and were justified in killing it. But again, there's that inconvenient trial that must be paid for.

I can't conceive of a scenario that would justify shooting the snakes owner just because he was carrying it around the square. Even if he threw the snake on you, at that point the owner would not present a danger to you and shooting him would not be justified as self defense.

[Carl in Tampa]

Originally Posted by rubicon

There are complaints that the police were not showing up to patrol the Square.

There are complaints that when the police do show up at the Square they won't act.

There are complaints about teen agers running wild at the Square

There are complaints that cops over react and arrest people for sitting in their golf carts and drinking at the Square.

There are complaints that the wrong kind of people are frequenting the Square.

There are complaints that people bring their dogs to the Square.

There are complaints about people bringing snakes to the Square

There are complaints about complaints about the Square.

What's a resident to do ? The trials and tribulations of villages residents: The Movie

Well, most of the complaints you list are related to opinions.

Unfortunately, the one about the police arresting people for sitting in their golf carts and drinking at the Square is about a law. It is the "open container law" that prohibits having an open container of alcohol in a vehicle even if it is parked.

I don't agree with the law in the context of our peculiar situation in The Villages, and suspect that some of the police called upon to enforce it don't either, but they are sworn to enforce the law.

[Carl in Tampa]

Originally Posted by mikeod;77***7

Here's what I glean from the OP's description. A group of young adults were gathered near the dance area, but not on it. One of them had a pet snake around his neck. The presence of the snake scared the OP. Period.

Posts that attribute malicious intent by the young man are jumping to a conclusion not supported by the description given. If the intent was to "scare the old people" wouldn't it be better for the snake to be carried around the dance area or seats? Since the snake was obviously a pet, why would you think he cares so little that he would allow it to escape and be lost?

Posts that malign the police do them a disservice. If the snake is not prohibited from the area by law or regulation, they have no reason to ask the man to remove it because one or two people express concern about its presence. They are there to enforce the law, not cater to personal likes/dislikes. Now, if the presence of the snake was causing widespread panic, different story.

Do I think it was a smart thing to bring the snake to the square? Nope. But, I sometimes shudder remembering things I did as a teenager or young adult. Do I think it was a dangerous thing to do? Maybe for the snake, but not for the people there.

I don't believe my post maligned the police, but I certainly don't believe they are above criticism when they receive a complaint and don't even bother to interview the source of the complaint.

This is not the first thread in which people say their complaints are met by a statement from the police that they can't do anything about an issue.

I have a multi-agency law enforcement career which included experience with a small town police department, one of the largest sheriff's offices in the nation and an elite federal agency. I am as pro-law enforcement as you can get.

Nevertheless, I cannot conceive of a situation where a police officer would not at least talk to the source of a complaint in an attempt to resolve the concerns of the person making the complaint.

In the case under discussion in this thread, the python is regarded as an exotic pet which requires a (cost free) license to own. At the least the police could have spoken to the owner to assure that the proper license existed. In the same conversation the officer could have made the owner aware of the concerns of the complainant and perhaps the owner would have removed the snake from the area in consideration for those who were made uncomfortable by its presence.

In my law enforcement career I never failed to talk to the source of a complaint, even when I knew no violation of law had occurred. Sometimes you meet some very nice people when you do so.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by mikeod;77***7

Here's what I glean from the OP's description. A group of young adults were gathered near the dance area, but not on it. One of them had a pet snake around his neck. The presence of the snake scared the OP. Period.

Posts that attribute malicious intent by the young man are jumping to a conclusion not supported by the description given. If the intent was to "scare the old people" wouldn't it be better for the snake to be carried around the dance area or seats? Since the snake was obviously a pet, why would you think he cares so little that he would allow it to escape and be lost?

Posts that malign the police do them a disservice. If the snake is not prohibited from the area by law or regulation, they have no reason to ask the man to remove it because one or two people express concern about its presence. They are there to enforce the law, not cater to personal likes/dislikes. Now, if the presence of the snake was causing widespread panic, different story.

Do I think it was a smart thing to bring the snake to the square? Nope. But, I sometimes shudder remembering things I did as a teenager or young adult. Do I think it was a dangerous thing to do? Maybe for the snake, but not for the people there.

This pretty much sums it up. Well done.