Spiders and Snakes

My husband and I never get it when we see people killing animals - any animals - needlessly. Here in the Ozarks we have a lot of snakes, some even poisonous. However, with the exception of the Water Mocassin, Copperhead and Rattle Snake, most do no more than slither their way around the ecosystem. Still, some people find it irresistable killing especially big black snakes, which are harmless to everything but rodents.
Last fall, our neighbor up the road came to our door and said, "If you heard a shot, I just wanted to let you know I killed a great big black snake right in front of your driveway."
Did he expect me to be impressed? I told him I would appreciate him leaving the "big black snakes" around this part of the road alone. "You probably killed the only snake protecting the wires in our vehicles from being chewed by wood rats." Sure enough, for the first time after 4 years of having a house here, most of the time when we didn't even live here full-time, we soon found a rats nest under the hood of our truck.
A couple of weeks ago, my husband rushed in telling me about a huge snake laid out along the trunk of one of our downed trees we've yet to clean up. I went out and looked. "Quick, grab the gun," I teased. Instead, he grabbed his binoculars. The snake was black on about 2/3 of his upper body and brown in the latter half. He was magnificant. It kept me entertained for awhile, and my husband for even longer.
We later learned it was probably a Coach Whip Snake. Again, harmelss to everything but the rats and mice we want to stay away. Some non-poisonous snakes will even eat the harmful ones.
Don't get me wrong. I kill spiders if they're in my house. If a Rattler or Copper Head is near the house and a threat to the dogs or us, we'll have to kill it. But we've actually seen people miss a Black Snake in the road and back up to make sure they hit it the second time.
But like my assistant, who is 18 years old says, "I just can't see going out of your way to kill a creature whose home you're intruding upon and who actually helps keep you safe."
Very well said, and very wise.