Some snakes were spotted in the garden of a nursery school in Turin. The children's parents asked for them to be removed, but the head of the nursery opposed the idea. Here's why she was right to do so.
The bond our species has with nature and the creatures that inhabit it grows weaker with every passing day. The society in which we live, characterised by increasing urbanisation and the abandonment of the rural and natural world, has damaged this relationship by distancing humans from animals. This estrangement has left a void within us; we have lost the ability to appreciate the kaleidoscopic diversity of the animal species with which humans have always coexisted. As a result, ignorance about animals has grown, and that ignorance has in turn given rise to fear — and sometimes even hatred — of everything that is other than ourselves. Yet, whether we like them or not, these animals live around us, and getting to know them can only help us relate to them.
Over the past few weeks, several snakes have been spotted in the playground of the Turin nursery school "Mirafiori Sud". The reptiles in question are harmless western whip snakes (Hierophis viridiflavus), non-venomous serpents that are very common in our country.
Despite the fact that these animals are not only harmless but actually useful — their prey includes a number of rodents — the presence of the snakes alarmed the parents of the children attending the nursery, who demanded their immediate removal. It should first be noted that western whip snakes, like all Italian snakes, are animals protected by law, which prohibits their capture and killing. Unfortunately, far too many people have an irrational and unjustified fear of these creatures, perhaps owing to a legacy of Catholic doctrine, which represents evil in the very guise of a snake. "Some people have lost all reason — four- and five-year-old children cannot be in contact with snakes," some parents complained. "Their safety and their health are at stake. We no longer know who to turn to in order to put an end to this madness." Fabrizio Ricca, leader of the Lega Nord group, sided with the parents and promised to bring the matter before the town council.
Given the intense pressure and the tendency to treat wildlife as a problem to be solved, one might naturally assume that the nursery school's management had acceded to the requests and "exterminated" the snakes. But no: Silvana Audano, the nursery school's pedagogical director, has no intention of removing the snakes; on the contrary, she has expressed her intention to use their presence as an educational resource. "These animals are not venomous," the head teacher points out. "We consulted an expert to confirm this. Their presence will allow us to help the children get to know nature better — we want them to observe it and learn to respect it. But first they need to know it: what better way than this?"
A decision of this kind, however logical, takes on a revolutionary tone in a country that has by now lost the ability to relate to its own biodiversity and considers it healthier to raise its children inside sterile glass cases. The age of dragon slayers is over; the time has come to leave certain unjustified fears behind and open ourselves up to knowing the wild. In this regard, it may help to observe children — naturally curious and disposed towards a relationship with animals — and to remember that what is truly frightening is ignorance.