I write a regular pet column for the SF Chronicle/SFGate.com, and this week I wrote about how my understanding of snakes and the people who keep them changed after I started working for kingsnake.com. A couple of Bay Area users of the site were interviewed in the piece as well.

When you were young, did you ever lie on your belly in a field, watching a bug crawling up a blade of grass? Did you stand perfectly still in a creek, hoping to catch a frog? Did a garter snake ever slither across your bare foot in the backyard, only to be caught in your curious hands?

For many of us, our childhoods were filled with wonder at the world of nature, and free of prejudice against things that slither or crawl. But as we grew up, we frequently got the message that while puppies, kittens, and baby bunnies are adorable, cold-blooded critters are something else entirely. I know that happened to me.

But all that changed eight years ago. I started doing some editorial work for kingsnake.com, the oldest and largest reptile and amphibian Web site in the world, and had my eyes opened to the beauty of snakes and the motivations of the people who keep them as pets.

Many of the people I met never lost that childhood wonder at the natural world. They would devote endless hours to creating habitats for animals that evolved in environments ranging from the driest deserts to tropical rainforests, sometimes having to learn by trial and error what even the experts didn't know about their snakes. They became obsessive observers of their animals, noting the slightest deviation in activity levels or appetites, their interest and their patience apparently endless.

I also became aware of how much prejudice exists against snakes and the people who keep them. Snakes in our culture have often been relegated to roles as scary monsters in horror flicks and the "ewww gross" segment on nature shows.

I wanted to challenge that view, so I asked some of the Bay Area users of kingsnake.com if they'd be willing to talk to me for a column.

The full article is here.

And thanks to Rolf and Natalie for talking to me for the piece!