It should be mandatory that government organizations lighten up a little bit, especially when you're talking about snakes and spiders.

This isn't the first time we've caught Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks being witty on social media. In fact, just last month they had a silly story about a lost stuffed animal go viral. Social media is probably the only place that they have the leniency to take on the humorous side of things. It IS still part of the government, after all.

Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks
Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks
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When did animals become targets of funny posts and memes? FOREVER ago. I mean, the internet is basically built on the backs of cat videos and who can forget the "funny renaming of animals"? (A beach chicken? Please.)

In an appropriate post regarding our generally unnecessary fear of snakes, MFWP pleaded with our rational side, noting that snakes in Montana are nearly all harmless. It's a perfect topic for the season, and considering some of the human-animal interactions MFWP has to deal with...can you blame them for reminding us not to freak out? Here's what they said:

Ophidiophobia is the irrational fear of snakes, but most people on earth also have a rational fear of snakes that developed throughout our evolutionary history because some of them are truly wicked dangerous.

But in Montana, being afraid of snakes writ large is, frankly, a little offensive. I get it with spiders… they’re small, they’re fast, they can (and do) fit into every corner of your house, and they have more arms/legs than we do.

But snakes are basically just one long arm/leg, rarely end up in your house, and are easy to outrun. Most importantly, of Montana’s 10 native snake species only one is dangerous (prairie rattlesnake) and the rest are mostly docile and not into picking a fight for no reason.

This is especially true for gatersnakes, like this handsome common gartersnake found straight chilling near a western Montana waterfall. I have experienced gartersnakes being aggressive unprovoked zero times and I have heard about it happening zero times as well.

Getting bit by a garternsnake is hard to do, and when it happens it kinda feels like a small frog trying to arm-bar your finger. In other words, no biggie, and somewhat adorable.

So, fight your lizard brain, control your instincts, and tamper your heebie-jeebies. It’s quite the privilege to live in a state with only one dangerous nope-rope, and it’s the one that (usually) loudly rattles at you before striking. Please… appreciate sir and madam snake!

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We appreciate the combination of education and humor FWP brings to this approach.

Yellowstone National Park can (on occassion) be another hub for humorous government social media posting. But if you're looking for a more reliable source of satire, try Yellowstone National Park: Invasion of The Idiots™! That one never disappoints.

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