Post a day twofer: Snakes and Optimism

[lunadelcorvo]

Feb 1: Serpent Day: How do you feel about snakes? Would you ever keep a snake as a pet?
Feb 2: Optimist Day: Do you consider yourself to be an optimist or a pessimist?

Snakes - I love them, actually. I don't have snake motifs all over the place or anything, but I think snakes are awesome creatures. I also know that the presence of snakes is a very positive sign of the eco-health of a place. When I had a house out on 10 acres, I had a contractor who screamed like a 6-year-old girl on seeing a little rat snake. I never let him live it down, and absolutely refused to let him kill the snakes. He nearly quit!

I would not mind having a snake, but if I'm being honest, I don't need the extra work. Four cats are enough, thanks! And even if that were not an issue, I could not stand feeding living creatures to a snake. I respect the predator/prey dynamic in nature, but I don't want to be the one dropping some helpless, struggling creature into certain doom. (There are reasons I'm a vegetarian, and that's one of them!) Feeding live crickets to a handful of anoles back when my son was little and just HAD to adopt the class pet was more than enough of that!

Optimism: Ouch. Not a good time for that one. Overall, I think I generally assume the best of humanity as a whole, but rarely like people in reality. I'm sort of a misanthrope, but these days, can you blame me? I think I am more of a realist if I'm anything on that scale. My grandmother always said 'expect the worst, hope for the best, and work with what you get.' I guess that Northern European practicality runs in the blood, to something. Though, these days, it's getting really damned hard to even hope for the best, especially when you realize the worst you can even think to expect is probably not as bad as what you will get.

Comments

[glowingfish]

I like snakes, but I also have mostly lived places where snakes are not venomous. My Colombian teacher has seen videos I've made where I get close to snakes, and she said I was very brave...not understanding the concept of a garter snake!

[lunadelcorvo]

LOL Garter snakes are adorable!

We do have several rather dangerous species around here, most notably Coppermouths and Water Moccasins; both quite venomous and notoriously ill-tempered.

[petit_elan]

Now I am curious to see your cats and to know their names. I hope this is not too personal. :(

[lunadelcorvo]

I'll have to get photos of all of them (from my phone), but they are:

Widget: a rather burly boy, but also utterly cowardly tuxedo. He was out first once we bought the house.

Midnight: the only one we did not name, a black longhair lady who is dainty, delicate, and as fearless as Widget is cowardly. Also something of a diva. She is purring almost every moment she's awake and she likes to climb up and lounge on my shoulder.

Aurora: a tortoiseshell who is sweet, skittish in absurd ways, has a bit of a gimpy leg (because of an injury as a tiny kitten before we adopted her), and who, because of her coloration, has a perpetually gobsmacked expression.

Jinx: a black shorthair who is just sweet as can be, the chattiest cat I've ever met (I suspect Siamese in her, she has that slightly angular face) but who absolutely lives up to her name; she is a trash goblin who is constantly putting twisty ties and Qtips in the water bowl. I don't even know where she's finding them!

[petit_elan]

Awwwwww! ♡

[cmcmck]

I love snakes but then we have no venomous ones here apart from the adder and even that isn't generally lethal to humans.

As they say, if life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

[lunadelcorvo]

Our more treacherous varieties tend to stay comfortable far from civilization. One had to be out in woods and creeks and such to chance an encounter. Not to be dismissed, but not really a daily threat.

[jehanne1431]

I used to have a pet garter snake years ago. Her name was Athena. I had to give her up when I moved, because you cannot take snakes on a plane.

I have two rather large pine snakes, Antony and Cleopatra, living around my house. I told them they could stay as long as they like, provided they eat all the mice and don't actually come inside. I'm delighted they've chosen to take up residence.

[lunadelcorvo]

I'm sorry you had to part; I didn't realize one could not transport a pet snake. How odd.

Your local mouse control team sounds delightful! LOL

[jehanne1431]

I think some airlines might allow it, but mine didn't, or it had some odd restrictions, or something. It was a long time ago.