Hiker summits Katahdin with Service Snake.

[WingedMonkey]

Yeah...OK...it wasn't Katahdin this time......maybe next time?

I posted it in the humor thread because I think it's funny....and STUPID

NIXA, MO (KYTV/CNN) – Can snakes be dining companions?

Some Missouri residents have their doubts after a man brought a so-called "service snake" to a restaurant.

A restaurant customer, Lisa Loeffelholz, said, "We had just gotten our meal, and in walks this lady and man, and the lady had the snake around her neck first. And it started to slither off of her neck, down into the booth behind her."

Another customer, Terri Pitts, added, "And she was pulling it, and I just started trembling … We've got to get out of here, we've got to get out of here."

They say the woman handed it across the table to the man when Loeffelholz snapped a picture, and she immediately expressed her concern to their server.

Loeffelholz picks up the story: "The manager came over to us and said it was his service animal, so we have to allow him to stay, so that's when my mom and I and the girls decided that we would not stay."

El Puente's manager says he allowed the snake to stay because of the man's claim, but Loeffelholz doubted it and approached the man before he left.

“He said, ‘No, it's my service animal, and I'm allowed to have it because it helps me with my depression.’ So I said, ‘Well, I'm sorry about that, but a snake in a restaurant probably is not the best thing.’ He said, ‘It's no different than having a dog service animal sitting here.’ I said, ‘Well, a little bit, it is!’”

Jill Finney, a Nixa City spokesperson, says that "the ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act, in 2011, defined service animals as a dog only, so if somebody says they have a service monkey, a service cat, or a service snake, ADA only defines it as dogs."

Finney says the snake posed a concern for public safety, and had they been called, Nixa police or animal control would have responded.

"Management just didn't know what to do because they didn't want to violate anybody's rights, and that's understandable,” Finney said, “but the patron could have then called 911. It doesn't have to be the restaurant that does that."

County officials say snakes do pose a number of health concerns.

The city also prohibits certain breeds of snakes, although it's unclear what kind of snake the couple had

http://www.live5news.com/story/29790...service-animal

[tiptoe]

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...0/pets-allowed

If this doesn't make you laugh, nothing will.

[rocketsocks]

People get ridiculous with this service animal crap, yeah life's hard, get over it...idiots!

[HooKooDooKu]

From discussions we've had on this subject, an animal has to provide a service (i.e. task) to met the ADA regulations. So the rules on where service animals must be allowed do not apply to animals that are for emotional support.

Unfortunately there are always going to be those that are going to try to take advantage of the laws and pull this kind of crap even when they are wrong.

[Traveler]

Hi, my name is Alvis and this is my emotionally bonded service cockroach, Peter

[Deb]

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...0/pets-allowed

If this doesn't make you laugh, nothing will.

I read this article when it first came out. Hilarious. I like the lines "Why didn't anyone do the obvious thing and tell us to get lost?'and "I don't know whether this affirms my faith in humanity or destroys it."

[MuddyWaters]

I suppose it would be ok if snake was indigenous species.

[Traveler]

"Indigenous species? Why yes, this is a Vermont Burmese Python."

[handlebar]

A service black snake could keep the mice away from your food bag. In fact, IIRC some of the AT shelters have resident service black snakes.

[Moosling]

I used to have a pet Rat when I was a kid, she would come when I called her or whistled and she would sit on my shoulder all day, I'd take her everywhere, hiking, into the car the store etc.

[Maui Rhino]

Here in Maui, we have large, ugly, but harmless cane spiders. They turn up everywhere, including the vans where I work as a tour guide. One morning, as we loaded the van, a commotion broke out, and several girls began screaming. One lady then announced that she just killed a spider! From the drivers seat, I hollered out "Oh man! I can't believe you killed Bob!!! He was my Service Spider!" Everyone froze for a moment, and you could have heard a pin drop. Then the lady started apologizing, before I told her I was just joking....

[BirdBrain]

We had pet ravens when I was very young. All was well until one day my mother was painting the mailbox silver. One of the ravens would not stay off the mailbox. It got painted too. Both ravens flew away never to return.

What does this have to do with a service snake or Katahdin? No clue. At least it happened in Maine.