Thought this was funny...

I bet alot of you have seen this before, but I just found it tonight and thought it was funny :D

http://www.nonstoplaughs.com/picture...orsale_jpg.jpg

I saw that today as well...made me LOL :D

haha, awesome.

rofl...definatly hvent seen it. is that a real add? its hilarious!

OMG that's great! Maybe he should just leave Hank in the tank when Steve is around? :lol:

:lol: LOL!!! :lol: That's great!! I wonder how his friend Steve feels about it???

Sounds like my ex-husband...he freaks out and flinches considerably if my little Vigo makes a sudden move. Poor guy....Vigo I mean..lol
Diana

Haha that's great!

Sounds like my 24-year-old brother, also named Steve, who's into death metal and working on a tatoo sleeve. You would expect more from someone like that.

LOL, Smynx! I agree you ought to be able to expect more bravery from a guy working on a tat sleeve. You could try pointing out that a ball python bite won't hurt as bad as one inch of tattooing! ;)

I'll try that, but somehow I think he won't believe me.

I'm sure you know him best. I have a co-worker who recently touched a snake for the first time, and now he's thinking of getting a ball python. You should have seen this 6' muscle man tentatively stroking the bp at first. :)

Most of my coworkers think I'm insane because of the snakes we keep. Only two are genuinely interested. Smulkin and I have had several coversations contemplating people's irrational fear of snakes - especially ones as sweet and docile as ball pythons. We've narrowed it down to two main possible reasons:

1. Usually when you see or hear about snakes on TV or in the news, it's not positive information. You hear about people being bitten (either by a wild snake or a pet) and rushed to the hospital, almost dying, etc. Even educational programs on the Discovery channel or TLC love to show snakes hunting, striking and feeding, which is interesting, but really doesn't educate people about the relative, and preferred, reclusiveness of the animals, not to mention their beneficial impact on environments/ecosystems - controlling rodent populations and such.

2. The bible gave snakes a bad rap.

Any other ideas?

LOL...Smynx, your brother sounds like a character!

I think maybe one reason people have such an aversion to snakes is the "creep factor." There's WAY too many movies and tv shows and such that show a "deadly" snake slithering up over an unsuspecting, sleeping body...or waiting in a tree to drop down on an innocent hiker...etc. And they slither around on the ground or climb up trees and walls without any visible means of locomotion...it's downright unnatural! :wink:

Another good point, Judy. And yes, my brother is quite a character. He is the youngest and definitely the "BABY" of the family - with all that that entails.

Smynx, not only do educational programs show snakes hunting, lurking in commodes and latrines, waiting in trees for human-sized prey to come by, etc., but they also are misleadingly sensationalistic about them. I've actually seen shows that would say things along the line of, "Humans are not the natural or preferred prey of anacondas BUT THEY WILL STALK YOU AND KILL YOU LIKE THEY DID THIS POOR VILLAGER. After a drought of three years that killed much of the local livestock and caused widespread starvation of many species THIS VICIOUS KILLER ATTACKED A WOMAN WHO HAD WALKED OVER 3 MILES TO THE RIVER TO GET WATER FOR HER FAMILY." I hate how misleading it is.

I agree totally, Marla. Maybe we should start emailing the Discovery channel, TLC, and similar networks when we see those sorts of sensationalistic programs. We could lobby for our poor misunderstood herps.

It's worth a shot, anyway, at least with TLC, Discovery, and National Geographic. The regular networks I think are probably a waste of time -- they'd rather terrorize people on "Fear Factor" with a bunch of harmless reptiles that shouldn't be all thrown in together.

I agree. I've given up hope on the regular networks (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX). The only things I watch on any of those 4 networks are ER and Will & Grace. I just can't stand programming that caters to the lowest common denominator.

I hear ya. When you have multiple shows about "who wants to marry a millionaire/little person/fat guy/nerd/herper" where they have to weed out the married/gay/poor/planted guys, you know the programming is aimed at the lowest common denominator.

Silly bipeds. I think people in general have problems with anythgin they cannot anthropomorphize - if it doesnt have a distinct head and 4 (nonsexual) appendages it just freaks em out. Why else would we staple a humanoid form on nearly all the aliens in the sci-fi industry (lol - costuming considerations aside).

You're right. I think there's more than logistics that goes into that. And non-humanoids are *scarier* and inspire bad movies like "Tremors." :)

LOL...ya'll are right about the alien thing. I'll be suitably impressed if Hollywood ever makes a movie with a Pearson's Puppeteer! (We'll soon see how many folks know what that is! :P )

Wow, Judy. You stumped even Smulkin, who is a big sci fi fan. I had to look it up. Crazy looking thing. We'll see if anyone else knows what it is. And no, I don't think we'll see it in any movie anytime soon.

Stumped me, FWIW.

OMGWTFBBQ! Don't remember if I have read any Niven or not - heck I am still working through Card's stuff.

i think really people fear what they don't understand and if there only view of snakes is on tv then they are going to be missinformed because if tv showed what snakes are really like all day sitting in a hole in a ball almost never moving coming out only to eat. people would not watch. Same for sharks they arent going good a human to kill and eat wahhahahaah.

LOL...Smulkin....every SF fan should read Niven! He's awesome!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by daftperception

i think really people fear what they don't understand and if there only view of snakes is on tv then they are going to be missinformed because if tv showed what snakes are really like all day sitting in a hole in a ball almost never moving coming out only to eat. people would not watch. Same for sharks they arent going good a human to kill and eat wahhahahaah.

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You've got a good point. If it's not sensational...then people won't watch it. But I'm sure there are ways for specific stations like AP or TLC to make truly educational shows about things we commonly misunderstand.

Exactly, Judy. AP, TLC, Discovery, National Geographic - they should all try to promote a better understanding, as opposed to fear, of all animals.

--Judy - I am slowly making my way through the genre :P

:D It's an awesome genre! I would highly recommend that you put Niven up there near the top of your list of next-reads!