> Snakes have to be the most sinister animal evolution has ever created.

Wait until you find out about H. sapiens sapiens.

There are so many things wrong with this comment.

First, it's unbelievable human-centric.

Furthermore, out of ~3000 snake species, only ~600 are venomous and only ~200 are dangerous to humans. That's 7%!

"Sinister" implies intentionally evil-doing, which is something only advanced primates are capable of (maybe corvids and some other mammals, not sure).

It's not even the most creepy/disconcerting kill mechanism. Apart from competitors like the Komodowaran (bites you and then stalks you for days while you are slowly dying from the cocktail of bacteria in its mouth), what about stuff like viruses? They don't even live, yet they are highly effective in an evolutional sense and very good at killing lots of stuff in lots of disgusting ways.

If you have a phobia of snakes, ok, but please refrain from turning that into some pseudo-intellectual wisdom...

Sinister could mean left-handed. Even more sinister: snakes could all be left-handed, and we'd never know! O_O

They did evolve from aquatic lizards IIRC - so presumably, genes coding dominant "hands" could be still there!

Just a quick point, Komodowaran appears to be the German name for the Komodo Dragon.

Right you are, thanks.

I thought "this word is so absurd nad definetely not German, no need to translate it". And I was wrong. Leaving it up as a fun fact.

I particularly put the word sinister within the context of the process of evolution. To create such a monster through the process is frightening.

It eats its own tail and itself when it has no choice. At the very least Komodo dragons are relegated to one island more or less, they aren’t swimming up toilet pipes.

There is literally nothing monstrous about snakes beyond weird pseudo-religious bias.

Many more animals are more dangerous. Many more animals are more intimidating. Many more animals are more mischievous/malicious.

It's fine to have a phobia, but calling the evolutionary process that led to limbless, sleepy, reclusive dopes sinister is not rational by any measure.

They can keep pests, such as rats and mice, in check. And some species that are harmless to people prey on poisonous snakes, reducing the chance of a deadly encounter.

Absolutely.

We put out traps for the pack rats that invade our house from time to time. This summer, one of the traps unfortunately caught a snake - nothing dangerous to humans but big enough to have been a useful predator for other pests.

I had to fight my since-childhood fear of snakes to go out and set it free. The snake wasn't exactly wild about my attempts to open the trap with a shovel, but eventually it got the idea, slowly slithered out of the trap and scuttled away. I don't love having them around, but I felt good about having (hopefully) saved the life of an animal that almost certainly does the humans who live around here more good than bad.

Woah. Where do you live? I literally cannot even contemplate a move to California or Austin (or Florida, anywhere warm) for fear of being in the vicinity of these things.

These things lay eggs and you’ll never know where.

No snake goes out of its way to attack humans. They are mostly nocturnal and chilled animals. As for laying eggs, think most of them lay them underground.

To be honest, I'm also very afraid of them, but like sharks, they are very essential to the ecosystem, and very useful for us.

If you want to pick an animal to hate, mosquitos are perfect candidates.

I know I should hate them because they spread malaria and kill people, but, as someone who grew up near a swamp, fuck mosquitos. I never got any sort of disease from them, but their bites can be annoyingly itchy.

I grew up in a village in India and snakes are no strangers. People do kill snakes (also worship them on a certain day of year) if they get into the house but usually they try to sho them away towards the fields.

The usual experience is that they leave you alone if you leave them alone. Unless the only place they can find the food is your house. There is always a probability of fatal biting if a venomous snake is in the vicinity. Catch it and leave it away from the city whenever you can.

Grew up a city kid in India, and even then rat snakes weren't unusual. An occasional cobra as well, but they never seemed to bother people and I never heard of anybody that got bitten. In university I had baby vipers crawl in through the window during rainstorms... they were more freaked out than I was.

The only dangerous snakes in California are sea snakes, which live in the waters off Southern California, and are rarely seen; and rattlesnakes, which tend to give you a warning before they do anything. Both kinds of snakes would rather leave you alone, as long as you leave them alone. Bites are rare for this reason. In all honesty, a rattlesnake is probably more dangerous to a curious dog than a human.

Snakes are the most amazing creatures animal evolution has ever created. They are the vertex, unchanged for million of years, of a branch of evolution. It's like nature said "ok, I'm done here". They are the result of a subtractive process, not an additive process (somebody said you are done once there's nothing left to remove!). They are able to survive in almost any biome despite being cold blooded. Symbolically, the snake is the creature that gave us the gift of consciousness, identity and self-reflection. Well, I'm biased, at a point of my life I had more than 30 pet snakes. I find them, especially the venomous one, the most fascinating creatures.

Prudent caution about snakes is good. I just today moved two small (<1m) but quite venomous snakes from my pool shed out into the bush, very carefully. But a reaction as extreme as yours may not serve you well in an encounter, it's best and safest to stay calm. Personally I was quite arachnophobic growing up, but have found that 20+ years living in Australia and the normalisation of removing the odd big huntsman from the house has made it so they don't bother me now. I believe this also helps me be more confident in other areas too. Like they say, beyond fear is freedom. Maybe have a look around for groups, hypno etc? All the best.

Thats a bit harsh so Im guessing you've not had a good experience with them. Most snakes are quite small and harmless. Even more are afraid of humans. I'm no fan of snakes either, I've crushed a few heads since our paths unfortunately crossed, but I'm not going to advocate killing snakes wholesale unless they pose a direct threat.

Sinister implies “evil”.

Evil implies a concept of good and bad.

I do not fuck around with snakes. If I find one near (or IN) the house, it’s going to meet a swift end.

But that doesn’t mean I’m on some kind of anti snake vendetta. I simply value the life of my family as greater than the life of a snake that’s in/around our home.

Depending on where you live (American here), there may not be very many venomous species around at all, and typically they're easy to identify. I'm in the high desert of southern Cali for instance, and in my area the only dangerous snake is the rattlesnake. All the other ones are harmless. I don't relocate rattlers tho, I have pets and a toddler, so they get the shovel =)

There are numerous venomous species here (Thailand).

We had what I think based on size (easily longer than our car) and colour (essentially black), must have been a King Cobra come along the side of the house several years ago (MIL and I watched it from above via window/balcony), but since then it's basically all Green Pit Vipers, which can be tiny (e.g. some have a head the size of the nail on my pinky finger) but are quite venomous.

I vehemently disagree with snake genocide.

They are intricate creatures, with amazing and beautiful features and abilities.

If anything should be wiped off the face of the planet it is ticks and mosquitos.

I agree with you, unless they pose a threat to your family/property. I've saved many a snake from my yard. Their behavior is so predictable that I've never really had a fear of them

But then frogs have less food, which means snakes can eat less frogs. Or something like that.

and Mt. Rushmore

hahaha... I have a pet snake, and I definitely think she should be allowed to live in this world. She's such a fascinating creature!