Reviewing the biography of Snetsinger by Olivia Gentile, Frank Graham, Jr. compared her strong competitive spirit with that of Danica Patrick in auto racing and Judit Polgár of Hungary in chess, both women successful in male-dominated fields. Snetsinger travelled about four months each year, spending the rest of the year studying photos of birds, quite aware of the competition. Her mother saw this activity as that of "a bird afraid of being caged." She missed her mother's funeral and the wedding of one of her daughters while on trips to observe birds.