01/06/2025
Warning. This is a crummy post. But I think given what I saw the other day, it is a necessary one. It is about euthanasia.
A video was posted to another group on Friday of this snake (this is a screenshot of the video). This was a harmless banded water snake. If you look at the "reels" section on this page (or the first post pinned to the top), you can find dozens of videos of Ashley and I free handling these snakes during relocation. We can free handle them because they are harmless. They almost never bite, and when they do, they usually don't even draw blood.
The person that posted this video, attempted to cut the snake in half with a shovel, and failed. Once the snake was immobilized, they took a video of him suffering and then asked for identification.
1) This is a living, breathing, sentient creature. He can feel pain, and in this moment, he is suffering. His back is broken, and he doesn't understand what is going on. A few minutes earlier, he was just moving through someone's yard, hunting toads or looking for water. Just minding his own business. And in a split second, someone approached him with a shovel, tried and failed to cut him in half, and started making a video of him as he suffered.
We would usually call someone a psychopath if they did this to any other animal, but for some reason, because it was a snake they tortured, we're supposed to give them a pass.
2) If this same snake had been passing through my yard, my 11 year old daughter would have picked him up, we would have admired him for a few seconds, and then set him back down to go about his business. So seeing what a grown adult did with a shovel to this poor creature is just pathetic. You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat animals.
3) Euthanasia is never pretty. But in some instances, it is an act of kindness and compassion. If you find yourself in a situation where a stupid neighbor has tried to kill a snake by cutting it in half with a shovel, or a snake is suffering in some other capacity and you need to euthanize it, you must destroy it's brain. You cannot cut off it's head. This is not humane and does not kill the snake (or any animal) instantly. Destroying the brain in one quick shot is the only way. You can use whatever you have at your disposal to accomplish this, just make sure it is instantaneous.
4) Please don't ever do what this person did; kill and ask for identification afterwards. Pages like this exist to educate and to teach people a better way. If you see a snake in your yard and want an identification, snap a picture from a safe distance and send it to us or post it in the Florida Snake Lady group for a positive ID, and then we'll go from there.
5) Everyone "has kids and dogs", myself included, so killing a snake the second you see one is not a legitimate excuse, especially when there are so many free relocation resources out here today. If you see a snake in your yard that you are not sure of (or that you are positive is venomous), get the kids and dogs inside and call us.
6) We only have 6 venomous snakes here in Florida. Take it upon yourself to learn what they look like (visit the local snake pages, watch YouTube videos etc). It is not a difficult task for an adult. If you spend 10 minutes doing this everyday for a week, you would be amazed at what you can learn. Once you know what our venomous snakes look like, you will be able to deduce the non-venomous ones that pass through your yard.
7) I am not a tree hugging hippie. I am not a radical environmentalist. I am just an average person living an average life. But watching what over-development has done to the area running between Navarre and Perdido Key over the last 26+ years has been the second most heartbreaking experience of my entire adult life. The entire area is unrecognizable to me now. The developers won't stop until every last glade is filled in and paved over, with a cookie cutter patio home or storage facility built on top. Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do about that. There is nothing any of us can do. But helping wayward animals running from the overdevelopment in search of food and shelter is something. And if it's the only thing we can do, then let's do it 🙏
RIP little buddy. I am so sorry for what happened to you. I asked the woman who posted the video for your location so I could get to you and help you to the other side, but she never responded. So I prayed for you and that God would end your suffering. I'm so sorry I couldn't get to you sooner 💔
