My Rant

I agree completely!

I know ignorant people that have asked me if my snakes bite me, and they seem dumbfounded when I tell them that, in the 10 years I've kept them, I've been bit only once. :rolleyes:

To them, every snake wants to harm you, kill you if it can.

I've stopped watching dumb TV like Animal Planet, they don't care about the truth, only what excites their myopic viewers.

I was watching "A 1000 Ways to Die" the other day, and there was a segment about a guy taking a "casual" trip to the Amazon, where he is, for no reason, killed by a "monster" boa. In the clip the man was leaning against a tree when a moderate size boa randomly sat on his shoulders, he quickly fell over dead and the snake moved along its way.

Then the narrator and the "experts" began talking about how it is "theoretically" possible for a snake to kill a full grown man. They fail to mention you're more likely to be killed by anything else.

Then there was a video on YouTube I saw, it was titled "Gigantic Snake Attacks 5 Men". The video was of 5 people attacking a large snake that was trying its best to escape their cruel capturing technique.

It's hard to get through to some people that snakes aren't vicious creatures. With all the lies the media uses in a pathetic attempt to make their stupid shows semi-exciting, its no wonder some people are so brainwashed.

Ok, my apologies, the clip wasn't on Animal Planet. I found it and it was a show called Maximum Exposure. I also found the video of the boa bite Coils was talking about, but with different narration as it is on Untamed and Uncut.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT3BwdvMO2U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4UNEpBI4n0

I think that I just try to make it my mission to teach the ppl around me the truth about reptiles. In fact I am in the middle of trying to set up my company. Last year I did a big reptile show for about 400 kids. This year I was contacted to do it again...(smaller version) but I am getting paid for it. I have also been aproached by the city that I live in to teach during their summer camps. Going to take a try at actually making some money out of this. The more ppl I reach the more that I can change their opinions....and so on and so forth. You would be amazed at how many ppl you can touch by just spending a little time with a few kids. ;)

My kids have been doing "Show and Tell" from when they were 5 and 7 year olds! They do at least once a year in their school and once a year at Cub Scouts and every other time they are asked (like when some neighborhood kid's cousin visits from out of state, they end up at my house checking out the snakes).

And here's my kids' favorite show - Bindi the Jungle Girl. Lovely BIG snakes she got there, one chumming with her younger brother and, of course her cornsnake she sleeps with. GASP, she sleeps with a snake! Call in the Child Protective Services! Good thing she's in Australia. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7w5xAgVzQE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

There is one positive show on AP, Snakes Kin.

I'm sorry, but snakes just don't appeal to the "norm". People want to see them biting and want to know that their fears are justified.

On another note, the boa in the bar, I remember reading about that a long time ago. It was an "after the fact" interview with the owner. He said his snake starved itself after it bit him. I wouldn't doubt if the snake said, "I've had enough of this crap" and then bit the owner. The owner believed that the snake felt bad for biting him and went on a hunger strike. The owner also went on to say that they lost a very important family member the day it died. Of course these shows don't show you that part of it. I'm sure you could find the other interview on YouTube.

I can't watch the video posted now, but from the extended version that I saw a long time ago, the owner was parading the boa in a smoke filled bar as an attraction. You could definitely tell near the end of it that the snake was stressed and he was forcing it to stay on peoples shoulders for pictures.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jfreels

There is one positive show on AP, Snakes Kin.

I'm sorry, but snakes just don't appeal to the "norm". People want to see them biting and want to know that their fears are justified.

On another note, the boa in the bar, I remember reading about that a long time ago. It was an "after the fact" interview with the owner. He said his snake starved itself after it bit him. I wouldn't doubt if the snake said, "I've had enough of this crap" and then bit the owner. The owner believed that the snake felt bad for biting him and went on a hunger strike. The owner also went on to say that they lost a very important family member the day it died. Of course these shows don't show you that part of it. I'm sure you could find the other interview on YouTube.

I can't watch the video posted now, but from the extended version that I saw a long time ago, the owner was parading the boa in a smoke filled bar as an attraction. You could definitely tell near the end of it that the snake was stressed and he was forcing it to stay on peoples shoulders for pictures.

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Yeah the whole video to me was just stupid....all people want to see are snakes attacking and harming humans. No doubt the snake probably had enough of the crap it went through that day. Not to mention again I would never let a huge boa come face to face with any BABY in a BAR no matter how much I trusted the snake. Anything CAN bite, but of course snakes are ten times more deadly than anything else just because they too can bite. -___- *sarcasm*

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Salem Purrs

Ok, my apologies, the clip wasn't on Animal Planet. I found it and it was a show called Maximum Exposure. I also found the video of the boa bite Coils was talking about, but with different narration as it is on Untamed and Uncut.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT3BwdvMO2U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4UNEpBI4n0

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I just can't get over in that first video how the woman just flings the snake off and drops it after it bites the girl. In the full video the man says it's very tame...but honestly it doesn't look very happy to me. So of course the little girl sticks her fingers right in its face. The owner should have known better. I have jumped and been shocked after being bitten or struck at, but still I don't just throw my animal afterwards! That's what makes me mad about that one....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

I think that I just try to make it my mission to teach the ppl around me the truth about reptiles. In fact I am in the middle of trying to set up my company. Last year I did a big reptile show for about 400 kids. This year I was contacted to do it again...(smaller version) but I am getting paid for it. I have also been aproached by the city that I live in to teach during their summer camps. Going to take a try at actually making some money out of this. The more ppl I reach the more that I can change their opinions....and so on and so forth. You would be amazed at how many ppl you can touch by just spending a little time with a few kids. ;)

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I also try to educate everyone I know about reptiles. I love telling them they are not vicious killers and seeing the reaction afterwards. My family now loves most my snakes and I have even gotten people to pet them who probably never would have done so before hand. I love taking some of my bps out during the day for photo shoots and having the neighborhood kids come out of their houses just to play with the "cool snakes".

I have a normal male bp who will always be my pet and has never once struck at me...he is the best when it comes to letting younger cousins and neighbors hold a snake. I'm always watchful, but he's so sweet they fall in love with snakes almost instantly after they hold him and have a SURPRISINGLY good experience with a snake.

I even talked my teacher into letting me bring one of my snakes into biology for a day during high school. She let me pretend to go along with class and have the snake hidden in my hoody while doing book-work. As my snake made her way free from my clothing a girl next to me finally noticed....it was hilarious. Had a really cool day of passing the animal around and getting even the girly-girls to like and pet a snake once in their lives. I loved that feeling. I really enjoy telling and teaching people all about these wonderful creatures. :D

Most everyone who loves snakes gets fed up with the media garbage we are subjected to everyday.

About "dangerous" snakes and kids I'll share this true story: Back in 1999, my family drove up to South Dakota to visit relatives. We went to Mount Rushmore and also stopped by the huge Reptile Gardens in Rapid City.

While there, we caught a reptile show. The man handled many snakes, including a few venomous types, but the star of the show was a magnificent albino python I think was a Burmese. She was I believe around 20 - 22' long, and the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen. I have an entire roll of film I shot of her. After the show ended, the handler was taking the Burm around the edge of the show ring and allowing people to touch her. Wanting to see her closer, I put my then 4 year old daughter on my hip and squeezed down to the ring. I kept her on the hip furthest from the ring, as I did not want her to be frightened by the snake. When the handler brought the snake close, my daughter leaned over as far as she could and just stroked that Burm's head with both hands, she was enchanted. I too felt the privilege of her silky skin under my fingers. When the handler walked on, my daughter just stared after him, and you could hear her thinking, "I wasn't done with that!"

I was so proud of her, she was as gentle and kind as could be, and much more so than a typical 4 year old acts around animals. Now that she's a teenager, she goes in my room and gets out my snakes all the time, even the balls that are bigger than she is. If I thought for one moment that one of those snakes could seriously hurt her, do you think I am so cruel and/or stupid that I'd let her hold them? She knows what it feels like to get bitten, she's seen me get tagged and just laugh it off. She also knows to be careful about letting them get on her shoulders.

And as to being bitten, I have been trying to trap some stray kittens so they can be turned over to a local rescue group, one of them bit me right through my cotton gardening glove, and I'm here to tell you, I'd 1,000 times rather be bitten by my biggest ball than a kitten, it hurts less!!

Gale

Long post to read but... snakes are the coolest and quite frankly the ignorant people that don't care to learn about their coolness aren't worth the frustration. My snake collection keeps my relatives away(not a bad thing) of course it could be my dogs too. and killers.... ???? if only... I dream of the day my balls are big enough to eat my cat or dog... Just kidding ofcourse!