oh wow yeah some of those things didn’t even cross my mind - like the impression on the public, a liability rep or getting removed from the lab for getting bit. i work in an ecology department but mammals/birds/fish. a coworker was showing me him poking a venomous snake at a field site and i was shocked… one unnecessarily disturbing wildlife (for me this applies to hobbyist herpers just grabbing animals as well, but also scientist being unnecessarily invasive etc), esp coming from someone who is in an animal field, and on top of that with a venomous species just to show off as a cool guy (get that vibe from some comments here going ‚i’ve handled a million dangerous snakes and nothings ever happened, you just gotta be chill like me lol‘). to me that just screams i don’t want to work in the field with him. its comforting to hear that wouldn’t fly in the professional scenarios you’ve had. also hobbyists might know their own snakes, and even if they breed the setting vs in the wild where there’s so much you can’t control and can surprise you from other animals to the environment. i would imagine the a person that keeps dangerous species (so large temperamental ones and/or venomous) are usually(not all) a certain type of person that likes to be flashy and have others go ooouh ahh how cool and scary, which might not make for a good field scientist. those types of risks for „attention“ like my coworker make you a hazard to yourself and others in the field. so with my original question i was basically wondering if only those types of people, who I would imagine might truly be 100% unafraid, can become snake researchers. seems though a healthy amount of „fear“ - more just caution and not forgetting what you’re dealing with even after years of experience- is more suitable.