Changing how people view and treat snakes
Chris Jenkins interviews ASP’s Executive Director, Melissa Amarello, on episode 14 of the Snake Talk podcast. We discussed ASP’s research on rattlesnake social behavior, how we use that information to change the public’s perception of snakes, and how we work in the advocacy arena using our work on rattlesnake roundups as an example.
WARNING: the following video is graphic and violent – it shows what happens at a rattlesnake roundup. Each year, tens of thousands of rattlesnakes are taken from the wild to be displayed and slaughtered for entertainment and profit at rattlesnake roundups. Professional hunters, not bound by ‘bag’ or ‘take’ limits, remove snakes from their native …
It upsets us to see photos and stories of people killing snakes. And it’s very easy to respond with hate. But fostering compassion for snakes means being compassionate toward people too – even (especially) when it’s hard. Many people genuinely believe they are performing a public service by killing snakes, especially venomous ones. It’s up …