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I would be ok with the government banning and exterminating all snakes. No selling, no breeding. No pets. I could also make an exception in this case.

A few posts ago, you were willing to leave things alone. I'm sorry to see this change. That's sad to see. There are many things that I don't like, but I don't ask the government to ban them. Snakes are not a public health threat. Except for extreme southern Florida, the extremely big ones can't even survive in the wild in the United States. They do not have the bite strength of dogs. Their jaws are made to hold prey and not to tear or crush prey as a dog's jaws do. They do not have the territorial instinct that causes dogs to attack people. They do not form packs to attack cooperatively. About 800,000 people are treated every year for serious dog bites. They likely don't even keep those statistics on snakes because there are so few non-venomous snake bites that require treatment. Efforts to ban snakes are based on fear and ignorance. The ignorance is not just ignorance of snakes but ignorance of the founding principle of not passing laws where there is no need and not passing laws just to put our own fears and prejudices on others.

Bill

Just for clarification, I have no desire for the state to regulate non-venomous snakes. My example upthread of Burmese pythons getting outin Florida was just to provide an example of snake escapes, not to call for regulation. That said, some of these constrictors are getting pretty huge, and there might be a need to deal with those large ones, say a permit for a constrictor that is big enough to take down a child.

And for sure you are correct about the health problem wth dogs and cats. It's huge. The shelters in my area are no-kill, and there are enough feral cats in the woddy parts of town to sink a fleet.