The feeling of rushing in and saving the day can be heady at best, but really what sort of lesson are you teaching kids when you open fire on a retreating snake in a school yard? Apparently the lesson of that day was it is cool to kill native wildlife.

In Mesa, AZ, this week, the news glorified a grandfather who shot a diamondback on their property, even according to reports that the animal was retreating and unable to be killed with a shovel.

From KPHO.com:

A grandfather rode to the rescue of a Mesa school when he shot and killed a diamondback rattlesnake on school grounds Tuesday.

[....]

Normally, a shovel would be the weapon of choice, but the diamondback had scurried into the bushes.

Not wanting the snake to endanger the kids again, Rich Drappo said he grabbed his .22-caliber pistol out of his pickup truck and made quick work of the unwelcome serpent.

“You gotta do what you gotta do,” Drappo said.

Taking advantage of a show-and-tell opportunity, he called the kids out of their classrooms to show them the headless harasser.

This act of "bravery" earned him the glorious nick name of "Rich the Snake Killer." I'm sure the family is quite proud. Of course, I'm sure he'd be the first to complain about the rodent problems once all the snakes are gone.