Suprise!!!!

[VonMessa]

Mmmmmm, rattlesnake.

Send me all the meat you want 

I'll take some 'gator, too.   

[AWwrgwy]

So when the rattle snake bites and kills someone its just natural selection? How do you explain to the rattle snake that you were just living in Harmony?

You know dang well if you let rattle snakes live in your back yard at some point someone is going to get bit.

I think its a complete contradiction that its ok to let the snake kill the rats.  But not logical to kill the snake.  The rats have to be dealt with by death because they are deadly and thats ok ?  the snakes are deadly but are not to be dealt with by death?

How did rats get so far down the list?

Its clear that were just seeing a logical theory here and not a moral one.  But logic wont work when you start asking questions.

Five to ten deaths occur per year from snakebite in the United States. People provoke bites by handling or even attacking snakes in a significant number of cases in the United States. Of the estimated 45,000 snakebites per year in the United States, about 8000 are by venomous snakes.

In the United States, 3 or 4 times more people die from bee stings than from snakebites.

 


wrongway

[Delirium]

I'm happy we don't have many poisonous snakes in Connecticut.

(The few snakes we do have in Connecticut work in Congress and get sweet heart mortgage deals.)

[RufusLeaking]

Killing a snake just because it's venomous is needless.

I took a shovel to a water moccasin, a.k.a. cottonmouth.  It was in my yard and I had preschool children.  Just prior, a neighbor lost a Rottweiler to a snake.  There is no ethical dilemma in killing a dangerous animal in a residential setting.

[VonMessa]

Does that include the neighbors?

[Maverick]

Does that include the neighbors?

If they are trying to do you in, especially on your property, absolutely.
 

[Vudak]

I'm happy we don't have many poisonous snakes in Connecticut.

(The few snakes we do have in Connecticut work in Congress and get sweet heart mortgage deals.)

 

---

Moray: If rodents are such a big problem, he can always get a cat

[Enker]

---

Moray: If rodents are such a big problem, he can always get a cat

Head out to one of your local farms and get a kitten. Doesn't matter what gender, but they have to be getting old enough to know to start catching its own food. Best rodent catchers I have seen, stand up to coyotes, are lovey-dovey when they are inside, and can grow to large sizes. As in nearing bobcat sizes.

Farm cats are great.

[Flipperk]

Statements like this are one of the VERY few places where I can sympathize with animal rights groups. Killing a snake just because it's venomous is needless. Now if it's about to strike you, a family member, pet, etc. is one thing. You're defending yourself, that's fine.  If for whatever reason you like the taste of snake meat (I understand snake tastes a lot like chicken, never tried it myself, tho) and are out actually hunting them is ok, too. But seeing one sunning itself on a log thirty feet away is no reason to go grab a shotgun and start blasting just because it's there.

the argument is that, you have no idea where the snake likes to hang out, it could be just passing by, or it could hang out under your porch when its too hot. If I had children and I saw a snake on my property i would kill it right then, I want to guarentee my childrens and my own saftey.

[MORAY37]

Head out to one of your local farms and get a kitten. Doesn't matter what gender, but they have to be getting old enough to know to start catching its own food. Best rodent catchers I have seen, stand up to coyotes, are lovey-dovey when they are inside, and can grow to large sizes. As in nearing bobcat sizes.

Farm cats are great.

Would be a great idea....  If every single one of the rodent borne viruses weren't directly transmissible to just about every mammal there is, including Felis domesticus.  Which means Fluffy eats the rat or mouse and brings home the Hantavirus, Puumala virus, Dobrava virus, or Saaremaa virus to you. 

Whereas the viruses die inside the snake, as it's not transmissible from nor can they even replicate inside the reptilian system.

[MORAY37]

So when the rattle snake bites and kills someone its just natural selection? How do you explain to the rattle snake that you were just living in Harmony?

You know dang well if you let rattle snakes live in your back yard at some point someone is going to get bit.

I think its a complete contradiction that its ok to let the snake kill the rats.  But not logical to kill the snake.  The rats have to be dealt with by death because they are deadly and thats ok ?  the snakes are deadly but are not to be dealt with by death?

How did rats get so far down the list?

Its clear that were just seeing a logical theory here and not a moral one.  But logic wont work when you start asking questions.

What exactly are you getting to?  Logic says that I'm more likely to die from a rat borne virus or bacterial infection.  Snake eats rodent and ends the vector to me, as in, all viruses and bacteria fauna inside the rodent cannot live in the snake, ending the threat to me. 

All I need to do is act accordingly, and not give the snake a reason to bite me by accident, by being a responsible property owner.  Morality is not a trait that population ecology deals with.  Whether or not the rodents die, is not my call.  Naturally, they will move away from the area where they are dieing, by either forced selection (READ: EATEN) or by choice.  The snakes will then follow. 

It's really just that logical.

[FireDrgn]

Im just trying to follow your Logic.   YOu have no problem with the rats dieing.....But you do the rattlesnake.... It looks like its purely statistical..... Which means logically that for every x amount of rats killed .A rattlesnake should be killed  also. That would be logical. Because its based on threat to you statistically.

Your applying a rule to the rat but not the snake.

"not give the snake a reason to bite by accident"   is a false argument. # 1 Negatives can not happen in the human experiance. They can only be expressed with representational systems like Math or Language.

#2 your not applying the same rule to the rat.
#3 you dont need this argument because all the snakes have left.

:"Naturally, they will move away from the area where they are dieing, by either forced selection (READ: EATEN) or by choice.  The snakes will then follow."    Rats Have choice?

 false argument.  your previous argument says that the snakes are still there................How does a dead rat move?  {Oh in the snake} The snake would have to eat every rat.  Since when does a living rat move out of the area when its Buddy's are dieing....I would only have to kill x amount of rats to get them all to move. and the snakes to follow............. Were does that happen in Real World.?  And logicaly that would have to be the advise you would have to give.... Just kill a few of the rats the rest will move and the snakes will follow. That would get rid of all threats.

[Bodhi]

I think it would be a lot easier for some of the "holier than thous" in here to comment after they have owned any expanse of land in a venomous snake habitat.  I have owned almost 50 acres east of Kissimmee, FL and I own almost double here west of the San Juans.  Both areas are highly populated with venomous and non venomous snakes.  Further, it is ignorant to say that that the removal of venomous snakes promotes the growth of vermin on a property.  It is more a selective culling to protect both livestock, pets, and person.  I also have a "kill on site" policy of anything found to be venomous.  It makes sense and keeps the chances of a bite down.  I also do not promote wandering in the brush in shorts and sandals (long story and a trip to the hospital lesson).  The bottom line is that a venomous snake is not always prone to warning and more often not, attacks without a visible or audible warning. 

That is real life experience and not some bs lab talk.

[Megalodon]

get about 4-5 of these turn em loose on your land, they like rodents too 

[Anaxogoras]

"not give the snake a reason to bite by accident"   is a false argument. # 1 Negatives can not happen in the human experiance. They can only be expressed with representational systems like Math or Language.

This snake discussion aside, you are really in a muddle here.  I suggest Wittgenstein for your therapy.