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by elapidking81 on August 12, 2005
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In the county I live in there have been alot of pictures of dead snakes, and the tales of the killers being put in the county news paper. I have written this to be put in the paper. please read it over and any input is welcomed.
thanks,
shane
Snake’s, A word that strikes fear in the heart of most people, but some thing that most people don’t realize is the importance of snake’s, and other reptiles. I have noticed that in the past the paper has printed out many pictures of dead snakes, and the heroic tales told by the people that killed them. Out of the pictures, and tales told I have notice a lot of inaccurate information written. This letter is to dispel some of those inaccuracies, and show the importance of these animals. Most People Think That most snakes are venomous if fact this county only has four species of venomous snake. They are Timber Rattlesnake, Pigmy Rattlesnake, Cottonmouth, and Copperhead. All the rest are harmless. Another tale is that all bite’s are fatal, in fact due to the advancement in medical snake bite treatment fatalities are very rare .In fact there are approximately seven thousand snake bites annually in the US , and out of those bites only eight to twelve are fatal. Another myth is that snake’s are not important, and are nothing more than a disgusting, and dangerous nuisance. The fact is that snake’s play a vital role in the ecology of the world. They are the number one source of rodent control in the US, and most parts in the world. With out snakes the rodent population would explode into epic and biblical proportion. The effects would be catastrophic including damage to crops, and wide spread disease’s. If you think of how fast rodents multiply, and how slow snakes multiply. When you kill a snake you kill the animal that is at the frontlines of the war against an infestation. Added that if you don’t have enough snakes to control the rodent population (which is the way it is getting) people will have to use more chemicals to help control the current rising population. Another fact is the danger level that you put your self in when you try to kill a snake. Out of the seven thousand snake bites two thirds of those bites were after the snake was seen. What this mean’s is the bites were caused by human error. Also another factor is when you add fear with a firearm or vehicle. So in all when you kill a snake you not only hurt the environment but you put your self in added, and unneeded danger. A lot of people would make the argument that the snake population needs to be managed. Well unlike deer, and other game animals the population of snakes just isn’t strong enough; in fact the timber rattlesnake is in serious danger of becoming extinct in this area, and abroad. So in concluding the next time you are outside and see a snake just walk off. You will be safer for it, and you won’t be threatening the ecology of this planet.
Thank you,
Shane Kissinger
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by Buzztail1 on August 12, 2005
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Shane,
I reworded it just a bit for grammar and context.
It might read a little better like this:
Snake. A word that strikes fear in the heart of most people but something that most people don’t realize is the importance of snakes and other reptiles. I have noticed that in the past the paper has printed many pictures of dead snakes along with the “heroic tales” told by the people that killed them. The pictures and tales told, I have noticed, are accompanied by a lot of inaccurate information. This letter is intended to dispel some of those inaccuracies and show the importance of these animals. Most people think that most snakes are venomous when in fact this county has only four species of venomous snake. They are the Timber Rattlesnake, the Pigmy Rattlesnake, the Cottonmouth, and the Copperhead. All other snakes in this county are harmless. Another common tale is that all bites are fatal while, in fact due to the advancements in medical science, snake bite fatalities are very rare if treatment is prompt. In fact, there are approximately seven thousand snake bites annually in the US, and out of those bites only eight to twelve are fatal. Another myth is that snakes are not important, and are nothing more than a disgusting, and dangerous nuisance. The fact is that snakes play an extremely vital role in the ecology of the world. They are the number one source of rodent control in the US as well as most other parts in the world. Without snakes, the rodent population would explode into epic and biblical proportion. The effects would be catastrophic including damage to crops, and wide spread diseases. Think of how quickly rodents multiply, and how comparatively slowly snakes multiply. When you kill a snake you kill the animal that is at the frontlines of the war against an infestation. Add to that, if you don’t have enough snakes to control the rodent population (which is the way it is getting) people will have to use more chemicals to help control the currently rising population. Another fact is the danger to which you expose yourself when you try to kill a snake. Out of the seven thousand snake bites annually, two thirds of those bites were after the snake had been seen. What this means is that the bites were caused by human error. Also, another factor to consider is when you combine fear with the use of a firearm or vehicle. So, all in all, when you kill a snake, you not only hurt the environment but you put yourself in added, and unneeded danger. A lot of people would make the argument that the overall snake population needs to be managed. Well, unlike deer and other game animals, the population of snakes just isn’t strong enough. In fact, the timber rattlesnake is in serious danger of becoming extinct in this area and several other areas where it once flourished. So, in conclusion, the next time you are outside and see a snake, I recommend that you just walk away. You will be safer for it, and you won’t be threatening the ecology of the planet.
Good Luck,
Karl
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by elapidking81 on August 13, 2005
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Thank you Karl. I wrote this about two weeks ago. I've read it twenty times, and every time I make changes. I really wanted the letter to the paper to well written. Thats why I posted it here for you guys to proof read, and to give some advice.
Agine thank you Karl for taking the time to make the changes.
shane kissinger
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by GREGLONGHURST on August 13, 2005
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Nice one, Shane. I hope the paper prints it.
Thank you Karl, for the editing. Had you not done that, I was going to, & I'm glad you did. You no doubt type faster than I do.
Shane...the biggest thing I noticed was your use of the apostrophe. It is meant to be used basically in two instances: To replace a missing letter, as in weren't, and to show possession, as in The timber rattlesnake's main prey item is rodents. When a word is pluralized, the apostrophe is not used. I hope I made that clear.
Keep plugging away at those people, & I wish you all the best.
~~Greg~~
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by jlturner45 on August 18, 2005
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I was doing my own checking about this topic a little bit, because I thought that the number of venomous species was higher than the 4 you listed, and what I came up with was also 4, but a different kind of 4.
1. Rattlesnakes (different reports from different sources report between 16-28 species in the U.S.)
2. Copperheads
3. Cottonmouths
4. Coral Snakes (2 species)
I just thought that only setting 2 types of rattlesnakes was a little low.
I also thought it might help the cause to add in there that out of those 7,000 bites annually, the University of Florida reports that about 3,000 of them are "classed as 'illegitimate,' meaning these bites occurred while the victim was handling or molesting the snake." And that 50% of the bites are "dry," meaning no venom was injected.
That stuff kind-of takes down the threat, especially when compared to the 300,000,000 people residing in the states, that's only a .0013% chance of being bitten by a venemous snake in the wild. As far as I can see, those are some pretty good odds.
I just thought this information might be of some use to you, it might make the people at the paper look at it more seriously if you throw in some statistics, it might make it seem less emotional, and more matter-of-fact, but it could work if there's the right balance of both. Good luck on it, snakes have a bad enough wrap as it is, the media being involved in the further desacration of the word snake can't possibly help things at all.
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by jlturner45 on August 18, 2005
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Oh yeah, I'm not an expert, just really interested in venomous snakes, and trying to make my way into getting my venomous snake permit in Florida, I just don't have a teacher that is licensed yet to get me my 1,000 hours required to be licensed.
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by elapidking81 on August 25, 2005
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I was only talking about Tishomingo county there are only four native venomous snakes.
Also the paper that was wrote has already been sent but thank you for your input.\
shane
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