Herps in the News: Snake Shot bill dies in senate

On Monday HB 2022 died after a tie was reached in the Arizona senate. This bill would allow "snake shot" in cities, basically allowing people to fire small rounds of ammunition at snakes in their yards. While this sounds like an article by The Onion, it is actually not a figment of satirical journalism. It was a bill proposed by rep. Jay Lawrence, an Arizona republican. Here is his dumb face.

Remember this face so that if you ever see it in public, you can give it a nice slap.

The bill failed after rep. Kate McGee read a letter from a former California investigator detailing the absurdity of people's desire to shoot snakes, particularly rattlesnakes. In addition, the usage of ammunition in city limits is an obvious threat to the lives of humans and various other animals that may happen to be in the vicinity. McGee explained that, “Projectiles fired into the ground at low angles, even shotgun pellets and snake shot, very frequently ricochet and put holes in buildings, cars and people.” McGee, as well as rep. Bob Worsley were the only republicans to vote against the bill as they joined all 13 of Arizona's senate democrats in opposition to the steaming pile of garbage that was HB 2022.

These kinds of bills never fail to astound me. Is there not a better piece of legislation to be taking up time on the senate floor in Arizona? Snakes, no matter how fearful a person may be of them, do not pose a significant threat once they are seen. If a person leaves a dangerous snake alone, their chance of being bitten goes down to somewhere around 0%. In the case that the snake must be removed, use a broom handle to scoot it along to an area where it is out of the way, or call a professional. 

While all snakes seemed to be on the bad end of this bill, the most apparent victim is the rattlesnake. You'd think that something which evolved to give a warning, a most helpful signal to those not wanting to get hurt, would be a bit more respected and less feared. Sadly, many of the arguments for the protection of these species are still anthropocentric in nature. A good example is the argument that snakes should be spared as they kill rats, which spread disease. What I would like to see is more people arguing for their protection based solely upon the snakes' own intrinsic value as a living being. Human beings must one day realize that their mass of atoms is really not that much more important that other masses of atoms moving around on the third rock from the sun. 

Perhaps if we portray snakes like this, they'll be viewed a bit differently.