COLFAX — Kevin Hood always has loved snakes, so much so that family and friends would turn to him for help identifying them.
The trouble was, most of the time, the photos they sent him showed snakes that had been killed. Why wonder then, he asked a crowd Tuesday at the main branch of the Grant Parish Library. The answer is the same — dead.
From that frustration, Louisiana Snake ID was born. With a Facebook page, website and public appearances that have doubled from last year, Hood and his family — wife, Rachel and sons Kyler and Landon — are educating Louisiana residents on what snakes live alongside us, why what we've learned about them is mostly unreliable myths and, most importantly, why people shouldn't kill them.
"We’re not asking that you have pet snakes. We’re not asking that you love them," Rachel Hood said. "We’re just asking that you don’t kill them. Just respect that we can coexist, they are beneficial. They are not out to get you. It’s actually the opposite."
As Kevin began the presentation, he told them snakes shouldn't be killed. But he did tell the kids that, if they find a snake, they should go get a grownup. He told them about the Facebook page, how it's grown to about 45,000 followers.
All the information the Hoods post to the page is meant to be shared. Kevin said a lot of people who are fans actually are scared of snakes, but they want to learn more about them.
And that's why they travel from their home in Livingston Parish to libraries across the state. They had about 15 appearances last year. Tuesday's presentation at the library marked their 30th this year, he said, and they did a second show in Grant Parish later that day.
Their oldest son, Kyler, wanted a pet snake when he was 5. Kevin was all for it. Rachel, though, was not. She grew up being afraid of snakes.
"I was just taught that they’re bad and evil and out to get us and kill them all," she said. "That was it. Not a whole lot of education there."
But she finally gave in on the condition that she didn't have to see it. Through the years, she's changed her attitude. That snake is still a member of the family, but it didn't make the trip to Colfax because it was about to shed its skin.
"And now, it has evolved into the fact that, literally, this is my life," she said, adding that she's lost her dining room to their expanding snake collection.
The family is living "the snake life," as they call it. It's a phrase that's on the T-shirts and hats they sell at appearances. They try to raise money through sales and donations for travel expenses and future projects, like repairing a recreational vehicle since hotels usually aren't keen on letting snakes stay on their properties.
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Kevin said they also have plans to begin a nonprofit group or foundation. The group does its presentations on Mondays and Tuesdays, which are his days off from his regular job. The group's popularity on Facebook has grown, and so has demand for live appearances.
It's a life he didn't anticipate, but he loves it.
"This summer’s been wild," said Kevin, who was planning to soon take his first day off this summer.
"It’s been worth it because this," he gestures around. "I didn’t know I wanted to do this."
Their efforts are working, too. Glenmora resident Linda Abston-Tucker was among those at the Colfax show. All her life, she was afraid of snakes, but she credits following the Hoods' page for helping her overcome her fear.
Just recently, she relocated a buttermilk racer snake, a subspecies of North American racer, and made a video about it. It's been fantastic now to teach others what's she's learned, she told Kevin.
Kevin said she's been sending him photos of snakes she's seen and relocated in her area. More people like her are needed, he said.
But, as he told the crowd earlier during the presentation, a lot of people still want to go grab a shovel and kill any snake they see in their yard, which was their habitat before humans arrived.
"I always tell people, if you can walk all the way over here to get the shovel, you know what else you can do over here? Just stay here. That’s it. It’s that simple," he said.
He said, usually, the only way a snake will try to bite is if someone messes with it or tries to kill it. If you see a snake that doesn't immediately leave, it thinks you can't see it, he added.
He asked the group how many species of snakes are in Louisiana. One boy guessed 52, which Kevin said was not far off. The correct answer is 48, he said, and seven of those are venomous.
As Rachel and Kyler held up a poster with the snakes' photos, Kevin talked about the state's venomous snakes, like the Texas coral snake, which can be found locally. It's best not to rely on the old rhyme about the color bands people sometimes use to identify the snakes because it's not always true, he told the kids.
Others include the pygmy rattlesnake, which also can be found locally. Kevin said this snake is not what some call a "ground rattler," which doesn't exist. Most snakes people call ground rattlers are harmless Dekay's brown snakes, which eat snails and slugs. Dekays' will shake their tails when startled, not intending to mimic a rattlesnake but to show fear. "Because they do that, people assume it’s a rattlesnake," even though it doesn't look like one, he said.
There are copperheads (Eastern and Northern), which they will relocate when asked because they eat rodents and are valuable in medical research.
"The venom from copperheads is being used to develop a treatment for breast cancer," he said, which drew exclamations from some of the adults.
Cottonmouth (or water moccasin) snakes also are in the area. He said the snakes are slow, so they often curl up and open their mouths when frightened. Kevin said the snake isn't being aggressive but defensive, comparing it to a dog that growls. Contrary to myth, the snakes will not chase you, he said.
Timber rattlesnakes are around the area, but there are only about five Eastern diamond-backed rattlesnakes in the state now because of indiscriminate killing by humans, he said.
The family then began showing the crowd some of the snakes they brought, including Wilbur, a hog-nosed snake, and Coral, an albino corn snake. Kevin held a rat snake and then Athena, a Brazilian rainbow boa. The rat snake drew laughs from the kids as her tail flicked around his nose and brim of his hat.
He told the kids how they couldn't depend on myths about snakes, like all venomous snakes have triangle-shaped heads or elliptical-shaped eyes. Even Google contains bad information, he told them. Species like rat and speckled king snakes are responsible for eating hundreds of rodents every year and should be left alone, he said.
Those who own chickens might lose a few eggs to these snakes, but Kevin called them a small payment for the benefit snakes give them. Snakes also devour the fleas and ticks the rodents they eat carry.
"So people don’t realize snakes literally spend their lives protecting us," he said. "It’s just the fact that they’re beneficial. They really are protecting us."
This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: 'The snake life': Louisiana family urges people not to kill reptiles
