As far as I'm concerned there are only two kinds a snakes. Dead and about to be. Screw the "they're good snakes" bit, if you have rats they make poison for them.
The story is wrong when they say that snakes don't pursue people. I once had a water moccasin keep following my canoe even though I kept whacking it with the paddle.
No reason to fear a harmless snake . . . as long as you can recognize the four main poisonous snakes found in Louisiana.
Although it is not typically dangerous to people the hognose snake(spreadin adder as they used to be called around my place) is a venomous snake but is often classified as non-venomous bc the venom is amphibian specific and usually will not do anything more than have some local area swelling at the spot of the bite if anything at all similar to but probably less severe than a bee sting.....I say that to also say that like a bee sting you can be allergic to this venom and it can lead to the same reactions as someone who is allergic to a bee sting especially in kids. On that note being allergic to either one does NOT mean you are automatically allergic to the other its just a comparative reaction. They have rear fangs and are not quick to bite so you would prob have to be messing with one to even get bit and find out you are allergic but with kids you never know. That doesnt mean to just kill them as like is said they are not dangerous it is just good to know of what is possible and what to watch if someone is bitten by one especially kids.
i never really went out of my way to kill snakes. i used to catch and sell king snakes to the local pet stores long ago. theyd pay so much per inch. although when the summers came and the water got low back in the swamp/slough where we crawfished, the moccasins and water snakes would be in the tens to maybe even a hundred or so. definitely over 100 all hanging from the trees and such in the water because back then when 22 shells were cheap, we would just keep shooting them til we ran out of bullets. and we had plenty. i wish cameras were invented back then. it was a sight to behold. so i guess i lied, i did often go out of my way to kill snakes. lots of them. but they dont freak me out.
Two children in my area were KILLED (yes I said KILLED!) by rattlesnakes last year, one in my neighborhood. One of them was 4 years old. His mistake was running along a truck track in an open field. I have no problem with people killing poisonous snakes. NONE!
