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I do not like snakes, I fully understand their place in the ecosystem, but do not prefer their company.

Thanks for sharing your feelings about serpents @darkpurplelight Snakes give me the willies I admit.
The patterns and other visuals are compelling indeed. When I find something beautiful I like to capture the image. I was hyper-aware of my surroundings during the shoot, this is a garden snake but they will still strike. This one struck at my camera, Whoa!

To bad you hadn't got him just as he struck. yes, they do often have colorful intricate patterns.
I am fine with them as long as they are several yards away, what I don't like is when I walk up on them and they're to close before I know it. Rattlers and moccasins terrify me. garden snakes not so much, unless to close to soon.
If it weren't for them we would be overran by rodents, so they have a job. I do not know how I have escaped being bitten. When I was a kid I almost lived in the forest, I even went barefoot most of the time. My work takes me in the bushes too, so it amazes me I haven't been bitten. Last year we picked palmetto berries, if you don't know, palmettos are a rattlers favorite hang out. If you are hunting rattlers, you look in the palmettos. I saw several, just backed on up and went another direction. They don't all rattle like they used to, they have adapted. They are a wild hogs favorite meal, they are immune to the bite. The hogs zero in on them from the rattle, so they have all but quit rattling!