7-year-old Virginia girl guns down a big snake

Shaun · 07-07-2004, 05:43 PM

this is one little girl who will always be safe around guns -- goes to show early education is a good thing

7-year-old Virginia girl guns down a big snake

By BILL BASKERVILL
Associated Press Writer

July 6 2004

RICHMOND, Va. -- Seven-year-old Kayla Williamson was angry when she found a big black snake stealing eggs from the family's hen house.

So she shot and killed it.

It wasn't the first time Kayla showed skill with a gun. Last year, she killed a deer from 50 yards with one shot.

"She won't back up from anything," said her father, Frankie Williamson.

Kayla and her father spotted the nonvenomous snake when they went to gather eggs June 12 at their home in rural Nottoway County about 50 miles southwest of Richmond.

Kayla sells the eggs and her father said the snake "was full of eggs."

"I was mad," Kayla said in a phone interview.

Her father gave her a .22-caliber revolver loaded with rat shot, rounds that contain small pellets.

"She got it in the head with the first shot, but she shot it a couple of more times just for practice," said Williamson, who proudly took a photo of his 4-foot-tall daughter holding the snake.

"He was six feet long and two inches," said Kayla. "My dad dragged him out on a stick and then I shot it."

"I was kinda scared of the snake but when my dad got him out I wasn't," she said. "After I shot him, I wasn't really scared."

Asked what she likes to do other than shooting and hunting, Kayla said, "Nothing."

Williamson said Kayla has been spent countless hours shooting, starting when she was about 4. And he has emphasized gun safety, noting that his daughter only handles guns when he's with her. There is no minimum age for hunting in Virginia if under adult supervision.

Last year, Williamson took then-6-year-old Kayla to a deer stand in the woods.

"We were there a couple of hours when about five (deer) came out in the field to feed," he said.

Kayla took aim with a high-powered, bolt-action rifle. "She put a perfect shot on it probably at about 50 yards," said her father.

"It was fun," said Kayla, who enters second grade in September. "He gave me the gun and I shot it."

Stopper · 07-07-2004, 05:53 PM

What a sweetheart!

ScottD · 07-07-2004, 05:58 PM

As much as I am happy that this kid is brought up with proper gun safety, I do not condone killing a snake. Even if it was eating eggs, especially a Black Racer.

If the snake could not live in that environment because of egg eating then it should have been relocated.

Racers are cool snakes and make great pets, though I don't condone that either. It is a snake that keeps the rodents in check. Crying shame she had to shoot it.

Shaun · 07-07-2004, 06:11 PM

I think she was right shooting it --the only good snake is a dead snake.

SexyRedXterra · 07-07-2004, 06:16 PM

My roommate hit a fox from her porch with a shotgun of all things. The fox had been sneaking in all week to their farm and stealing the chickens.

Snakebite · 07-07-2004, 06:17 PM

I agree with ScottD. I dont think a harmless and non venemous snake should be killed.
I havent even killed a rattler in many years. They have their place in nature too. We just happen to get in their way.

Dennis · 07-07-2004, 06:22 PM

Animals eating food that we grow for ourselves deserve to get shot ....................
everytime.

I am certain that that 7 year old girl didnt have a care in the world about shooting that snake nor should she have had.
See, there are so many that recoil against the use of absolute authority.
Then they are attracted to movies and tv shows that show absolute authority being excercised.
The idea that we need permission from somone else
to excercise absolute authority is a great weakness
that kid didnt need someone to tell her that that snake needed killing. she knew it herself, with out any outside help
See, its the that weak thinking that causes us to be so paralized all the time.
We have to stop thinking this way.
that little girls mind has not been corupted yet.

ScottD · 07-07-2004, 06:34 PM

Yer missing the point. The snake was harmless and could of been relocated. There's a difference here, bad snake, good snake. This was a good snake.

Rodents carry the Hanta virus and as such snakes take care of this problem for us. Look to the Hopi/Navajo nation that had the epademic with Hanta. There was no natural enemies to these rodents which passed the virus to people which died.

I understand the knee jerk reaction to snakes. It is so easy to clump them all into one box and say that they are all bad and they should be killed. Lack of education breeds ignorance when it comes to snake indentification.

Snakebite · 07-07-2004, 06:39 PM

Dennis, that snake didnt "NEED" to be killed!
He was doing what nature intended and thats to eat and survive.
Perhaps they should have made the henhouse a little more snakeproof?
I have killed many many snakes in my day but I have never once killed a non venemous one.

A snake with a couple of eggs in his belly wont have to eat again for a couple of months. I think thats a fair trade for having a beneficial animal around keeping rodents in check.
I learned when I was young and the mice would get into the oats for the horses. Shoot the mice, not the snakes.

SilverRun · 07-07-2004, 07:19 PM

As a biologist, I agree that in general snakes are important contributors to the overall ecosystem, but one snake is not significant. Whether it was right or wrong, you guys are making a big deal over one little snake. I think the reason this post was placed was to promote involvement of children in the shooting sports, and not to promote the slaughter of defenseless snakes. I wish all parents took the time that this parent apparently does with his child to teach them about guns and hunting. If they did, we wouldn’t have to worry near as much about the liberal politicians taking away Second Amendment rights.

Shaun · 07-07-2004, 07:43 PM

Thanks Silverrun you got the reason why I put this up -- it goes back to my signature line regarding education

07-07-2004, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaun

--the only good snake is a dead snake.

I think Shaun is afraid of snakes.
Much like Indiana Jones.

Shaun · 07-07-2004, 07:49 PM

Afraid might decribe it but I hate anything that slithers (attorney's, Liberals, and trolls)

07-07-2004, 08:32 PM

So, meeting my seven foot pet boa constrictor named Henry (after henry Kissenger) would not make your top ten things to do in 2004?
Oh well, I break the news to him as gently as I can.

Shaun · 07-07-2004, 08:41 PM

That Boa would be boots when I got done with the 12gauge

Gyrene · 07-07-2004, 08:52 PM

RIGHT ON SHAUN!!!

I do not think the black snake that was the subject is a racer. When I was a kid in Arkansas (70 miles can make a big difference in your views of the world, as well as politics), we used to have black snakes that would raid the chickenhouse for eggs, and those snakes were constrictors. After they swallowed all of the eggs they could get, they would wrap themselves around something and crush the eggs. My mom always liked to catch them before they crushed the eggs, and chop them up with a garden hoe. The hens wouldn't sit on those eggs, because of the snake smell (I guess), so those eggs were cut out of the snakes' body, and were the ones we ate first. When one of the black snakes caught a mouse, they would wrap themselves around the mouse and crush it before swallowing it. For entertainment, I used to lay on the living room floor and look through the cracks, between the boards, at the snakes and spiders (my dad and uncles had built the house out of green lumber, and had not gotten around to grouting it in the three years that I remember living in the house (from 1 1/2 to 4 1/2 years old).

The blacksnakes were so plentiful that it didn't matter if you killed 20 or so a week, because every day my mom had to kill at least one that had swallowed eggs, and some days as many as 5 to 8 of them, this went on for years, with no shortage of blacksnakes, all of the neighbors said the blacksnakes and coyotes will still be around when people are gone from the earth. I believe that!

We had a lot of different snakes, including copperheads (a pit viper like a rattlesnake, without the rattles) which were aggressive poisonous devils. They were not quite as aggressive as the cottonmouth water moccasins, which would climb into the boat if you had fish on board, and they are poisonous. We had to keep a constant watch for rattlesnakes and copperheads, no matter where we walked, and near the water we had to watch out for water moccasins.

When I was about 4 years old my uncle would take me and my older brother to the river (which had a large quiet area, almost like a pond), where we would set up on the bank and shoot any water moccasin that broke the surface of the water. The far bank was an abrupt rise maybe 35 to 40 feet, making it a perfect backdrop for a shooting range.

Shaun · 07-07-2004, 09:36 PM

Sounds like a good reactive target gyrene -- hope you had fun during the target fest I would have

Gyrene · 07-08-2004, 12:48 AM

Shaun - I sure did, and I understood at 4 years old what was happening. I was helping get rid of dangerous creatures, because if I ran into one, at 4 years old I would have been DOA at any Doctors' Office (I do not remember a hospital being within 50 miles or more). If I remember correctly, I did bag more than one of them, and I loved to shoot that old .22 Winchester pump (at least that is what I remember it being).

BattleRifleG3 · 07-08-2004, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SexyRedXterra

My roommate hit a fox from her porch with a shotgun of all things. The fox had been sneaking in all week to their farm and stealing the chickens.

And it was with a slug!

missharpshooter · 07-08-2004, 02:42 AM

I think Silver Run is right on the money there..and said it better than i could have relayed those same thoughts...... I don't like snakes..myself.. I had to kill a rattle snake one time with an axe and shovel..and it scared me.LOL was going to shoot it but it was next to a propane gas tank....LOLLL

07-07-2004, 05:43 PM	#1
Shaun Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 8,619 Images: 1	7-year-old Virginia girl guns down a big snake this is one little girl who will always be safe around guns -- goes to show early education is a good thing 7-year-old Virginia girl guns down a big snake By BILL BASKERVILL Associated Press Writer July 6 2004 RICHMOND, Va. -- Seven-year-old Kayla Williamson was angry when she found a big black snake stealing eggs from the family's hen house. So she shot and killed it. It wasn't the first time Kayla showed skill with a gun. Last year, she killed a deer from 50 yards with one shot. "She won't back up from anything," said her father, Frankie Williamson. Kayla and her father spotted the nonvenomous snake when they went to gather eggs June 12 at their home in rural Nottoway County about 50 miles southwest of Richmond. Kayla sells the eggs and her father said the snake "was full of eggs." "I was mad," Kayla said in a phone interview. Her father gave her a .22-caliber revolver loaded with rat shot, rounds that contain small pellets. "She got it in the head with the first shot, but she shot it a couple of more times just for practice," said Williamson, who proudly took a photo of his 4-foot-tall daughter holding the snake. "He was six feet long and two inches," said Kayla. "My dad dragged him out on a stick and then I shot it." "I was kinda scared of the snake but when my dad got him out I wasn't," she said. "After I shot him, I wasn't really scared." Asked what she likes to do other than shooting and hunting, Kayla said, "Nothing." Williamson said Kayla has been spent countless hours shooting, starting when she was about 4. And he has emphasized gun safety, noting that his daughter only handles guns when he's with her. There is no minimum age for hunting in Virginia if under adult supervision. Last year, Williamson took then-6-year-old Kayla to a deer stand in the woods. "We were there a couple of hours when about five (deer) came out in the field to feed," he said. Kayla took aim with a high-powered, bolt-action rifle. "She put a perfect shot on it probably at about 50 yards," said her father. "It was fun," said Kayla, who enters second grade in September. "He gave me the gun and I shot it." __________________ "Homeland Security is the responsibility of an armed citizen" ME http://webpages.charter.net/s.s.v/

07-07-2004, 05:53 PM	#2
Stopper Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Kansass Posts: 2,212 Images: 1	What a sweetheart! __________________ They should have stopped at "Congress shall make no law"

07-07-2004, 05:58 PM	#3
ScottD Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Evanston, IL Posts: 1,020	As much as I am happy that this kid is brought up with proper gun safety, I do not condone killing a snake. Even if it was eating eggs, especially a Black Racer. If the snake could not live in that environment because of egg eating then it should have been relocated. Racers are cool snakes and make great pets, though I don't condone that either. It is a snake that keeps the rodents in check. Crying shame she had to shoot it. __________________ "Some people can not live without wilderness"-Aldo Leopold

07-07-2004, 06:11 PM	#4
Shaun Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 8,619 Images: 1	I think she was right shooting it --the only good snake is a dead snake. __________________ "Homeland Security is the responsibility of an armed citizen" ME http://webpages.charter.net/s.s.v/

07-07-2004, 06:16 PM	#5
SexyRedXterra Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: NJ Shore and Western PA Posts: 1,206	My roommate hit a fox from her porch with a shotgun of all things. The fox had been sneaking in all week to their farm and stealing the chickens. __________________ "God doesn't always do things on our schedule, but he's always right on time."

07-07-2004, 06:17 PM	#6
Snakebite Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Tucson, Mexico Posts: 1,844	I agree with ScottD. I dont think a harmless and non venemous snake should be killed. I havent even killed a rattler in many years. They have their place in nature too. We just happen to get in their way.

07-07-2004, 06:22 PM	#7
Dennis Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Texas Posts: 1,882	Animals eating food that we grow for ourselves deserve to get shot .................... everytime. I am certain that that 7 year old girl didnt have a care in the world about shooting that snake nor should she have had. See, there are so many that recoil against the use of absolute authority. Then they are attracted to movies and tv shows that show absolute authority being excercised. The idea that we need permission from somone else to excercise absolute authority is a great weakness that kid didnt need someone to tell her that that snake needed killing. she knew it herself, with out any outside help See, its the that weak thinking that causes us to be so paralized all the time. We have to stop thinking this way. that little girls mind has not been corupted yet. __________________ Submitted with respect to all Last edited by Dennis; 07-07-2004 at 06:25 PM.

07-07-2004, 06:34 PM	#8
ScottD Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Evanston, IL Posts: 1,020	Yer missing the point. The snake was harmless and could of been relocated. There's a difference here, bad snake, good snake. This was a good snake. Rodents carry the Hanta virus and as such snakes take care of this problem for us. Look to the Hopi/Navajo nation that had the epademic with Hanta. There was no natural enemies to these rodents which passed the virus to people which died. I understand the knee jerk reaction to snakes. It is so easy to clump them all into one box and say that they are all bad and they should be killed. Lack of education breeds ignorance when it comes to snake indentification. __________________ "Some people can not live without wilderness"-Aldo Leopold

07-07-2004, 06:39 PM	#9
Snakebite Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Tucson, Mexico Posts: 1,844	Dennis, that snake didnt "NEED" to be killed! He was doing what nature intended and thats to eat and survive. Perhaps they should have made the henhouse a little more snakeproof? I have killed many many snakes in my day but I have never once killed a non venemous one. A snake with a couple of eggs in his belly wont have to eat again for a couple of months. I think thats a fair trade for having a beneficial animal around keeping rodents in check. I learned when I was young and the mice would get into the oats for the horses. Shoot the mice, not the snakes.

07-07-2004, 07:19 PM	#10
SilverRun Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: AL Posts: 1,666	As a biologist, I agree that in general snakes are important contributors to the overall ecosystem, but one snake is not significant. Whether it was right or wrong, you guys are making a big deal over one little snake. I think the reason this post was placed was to promote involvement of children in the shooting sports, and not to promote the slaughter of defenseless snakes. I wish all parents took the time that this parent apparently does with his child to teach them about guns and hunting. If they did, we wouldn’t have to worry near as much about the liberal politicians taking away Second Amendment rights.

07-07-2004, 07:43 PM	#11
Shaun Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 8,619 Images: 1	Thanks Silverrun you got the reason why I put this up -- it goes back to my signature line regarding education __________________ "Homeland Security is the responsibility of an armed citizen" ME http://webpages.charter.net/s.s.v/

07-07-2004, 07:49 PM	#13
Shaun Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 8,619 Images: 1	Afraid might decribe it but I hate anything that slithers (attorney's, Liberals, and trolls) __________________ "Homeland Security is the responsibility of an armed citizen" ME http://webpages.charter.net/s.s.v/

07-07-2004, 08:32 PM	#14
Mr. Kaneko Guest Posts: n/a	So, meeting my seven foot pet boa constrictor named Henry (after henry Kissenger) would not make your top ten things to do in 2004? Oh well, I break the news to him as gently as I can.

07-07-2004, 08:41 PM	#15
Shaun Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 8,619 Images: 1	That Boa would be boots when I got done with the 12gauge __________________ "Homeland Security is the responsibility of an armed citizen" ME http://webpages.charter.net/s.s.v/

07-07-2004, 08:52 PM	#16
Gyrene Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: CA Posts: 886	RIGHT ON SHAUN!!! I do not think the black snake that was the subject is a racer. When I was a kid in Arkansas (70 miles can make a big difference in your views of the world, as well as politics), we used to have black snakes that would raid the chickenhouse for eggs, and those snakes were constrictors. After they swallowed all of the eggs they could get, they would wrap themselves around something and crush the eggs. My mom always liked to catch them before they crushed the eggs, and chop them up with a garden hoe. The hens wouldn't sit on those eggs, because of the snake smell (I guess), so those eggs were cut out of the snakes' body, and were the ones we ate first. When one of the black snakes caught a mouse, they would wrap themselves around the mouse and crush it before swallowing it. For entertainment, I used to lay on the living room floor and look through the cracks, between the boards, at the snakes and spiders (my dad and uncles had built the house out of green lumber, and had not gotten around to grouting it in the three years that I remember living in the house (from 1 1/2 to 4 1/2 years old). The blacksnakes were so plentiful that it didn't matter if you killed 20 or so a week, because every day my mom had to kill at least one that had swallowed eggs, and some days as many as 5 to 8 of them, this went on for years, with no shortage of blacksnakes, all of the neighbors said the blacksnakes and coyotes will still be around when people are gone from the earth. I believe that! We had a lot of different snakes, including copperheads (a pit viper like a rattlesnake, without the rattles) which were aggressive poisonous devils. They were not quite as aggressive as the cottonmouth water moccasins, which would climb into the boat if you had fish on board, and they are poisonous. We had to keep a constant watch for rattlesnakes and copperheads, no matter where we walked, and near the water we had to watch out for water moccasins. When I was about 4 years old my uncle would take me and my older brother to the river (which had a large quiet area, almost like a pond), where we would set up on the bank and shoot any water moccasin that broke the surface of the water. The far bank was an abrupt rise maybe 35 to 40 feet, making it a perfect backdrop for a shooting range.

07-07-2004, 09:36 PM	#17
Shaun Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 8,619 Images: 1	Sounds like a good reactive target gyrene -- hope you had fun during the target fest I would have __________________ "Homeland Security is the responsibility of an armed citizen" ME http://webpages.charter.net/s.s.v/

07-08-2004, 12:48 AM	#18
Gyrene Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: CA Posts: 886	Shaun - I sure did, and I understood at 4 years old what was happening. I was helping get rid of dangerous creatures, because if I ran into one, at 4 years old I would have been DOA at any Doctors' Office (I do not remember a hospital being within 50 miles or more). If I remember correctly, I did bag more than one of them, and I loved to shoot that old .22 Winchester pump (at least that is what I remember it being).

07-08-2004, 02:42 AM	#20
missharpshooter Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 979 Images: 2	I think Silver Run is right on the money there..and said it better than i could have relayed those same thoughts...... I don't like snakes..myself.. I had to kill a rattle snake one time with an axe and shovel..and it scared me.LOL was going to shoot it but it was next to a propane gas tank....LOLLL __________________ IF IT DOESN'T GET HOT..IT DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH FIREPOWER....DBL TAPP IS NOT DANCING..