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As reptile owners we are often cast off from traditional respectable society. Some view ourselves and our brethren as freaks, geeks and creeps. Many of us have endured the judgmental tone and disdainful glance at the water cooler, dinner party or H.O.A. meeting as someone asks "You have a pet ...?".
Increasing regulation based on bias, a lack of education, and the inherent nature of human beings to fear all that is scaly, slithers or crawls limits our collections and forces us to forfeit our reptilian cohorts. In congruence it is also my understanding that in a certain state it is legal to hunt and kill non indigenous reptiles while simultaneously felonious to capture of possess such said reptiles. Only human beings could show such an absence of humanity.
In my own residence my beautiful and proudly displayed enclosure is not located in the living room for
guests to view and enjoy. It is banished to the back bedroom to avoid irrational panic or hasty exit from friends, neighbors or a late night amorous companion. Ensconced, almost shamefully... Not unlike the unsightly Zelda in Pet Cemetery.
In my college years young women frequented my dorm room at odd hours to see my snake. Unfortunately, those days have long since passed. Mentioning your pet snake on a first date in your forties all but guarantees that your agenda for a second may clearly have been prematurely forfeited.
For years my current girlfriend would expeditiously exit the premises whenever my boid was acquitted from the confines of her enclosure. She had been to expos, yet held steadfast in her refusal to touch even the most bantam of neonates.
Late last eve, a monumental event occurred in the domicile of Kung Fu Joe. Without reluctance or encouragement, this lovely young lady decided to touch my snake for the first time. Soon after she was prancing through the abode cloaked in a reptilian serape of sorts. All smiles.
Although the photos indicate that I continue to maintain a certain sense of anonymity in regards to my reptile keeping, my point is that through education, patience, and responsible reptile keeping we can collectively redirect the negative stigma of even our most stubborn of opponents. Even if done one individual at a time.
Increasing regulation based on bias, a lack of education, and the inherent nature of human beings to fear all that is scaly, slithers or crawls limits our collections and forces us to forfeit our reptilian cohorts. In congruence it is also my understanding that in a certain state it is legal to hunt and kill non indigenous reptiles while simultaneously felonious to capture of possess such said reptiles. Only human beings could show such an absence of humanity.
In my own residence my beautiful and proudly displayed enclosure is not located in the living room for
guests to view and enjoy. It is banished to the back bedroom to avoid irrational panic or hasty exit from friends, neighbors or a late night amorous companion. Ensconced, almost shamefully... Not unlike the unsightly Zelda in Pet Cemetery.
In my college years young women frequented my dorm room at odd hours to see my snake. Unfortunately, those days have long since passed. Mentioning your pet snake on a first date in your forties all but guarantees that your agenda for a second may clearly have been prematurely forfeited.
For years my current girlfriend would expeditiously exit the premises whenever my boid was acquitted from the confines of her enclosure. She had been to expos, yet held steadfast in her refusal to touch even the most bantam of neonates.
Late last eve, a monumental event occurred in the domicile of Kung Fu Joe. Without reluctance or encouragement, this lovely young lady decided to touch my snake for the first time. Soon after she was prancing through the abode cloaked in a reptilian serape of sorts. All smiles.
Although the photos indicate that I continue to maintain a certain sense of anonymity in regards to my reptile keeping, my point is that through education, patience, and responsible reptile keeping we can collectively redirect the negative stigma of even our most stubborn of opponents. Even if done one individual at a time.
That's a predator. Let her cuddle your boa.
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