billy the exterminator

Anybody see that reality tv show billy the exterminator last night? Was a joke and all it did was make snake owners look even more worse than people think. A woman called him because her brother had a big snake in his house and it escaped from the cage. She was taking care of his dogs while he was away and noticed it wasn't in there anymore. When they found it, the guy was like, " This snake is like 20ft long and weighs over 100 pounds." It was a beautiful retic, I think it was a tiger, and was maybe 12' at the most. When they grabbed it, it started tail wrapping his friend's leg. His friend was like, "My leg is going numb and if I don't get him off, I will lose my leg." When they finally put it back in the cage, he put what looked like two 5 lb steel weights on the lid and told the woman that he can't get out now.

Yeah ole billy pisses me off. They went to a snake call without a snake bag, and then had to borrow a garbage bag from the lady..... Wtf. Either fake or they're REALLY dumb

That show is ridiculously stupid! It makes me so mad!

I actually did watch that last night, due to my mother in law watching it when we came in. I didn't catch the "it's a pet" part, and he went on about it being 20 ft and 100pounds, I just was like: it's obviously a morph. That doesn't occur in the wild. This is terribly faked. Then they started putting it back in an enclosure. "I COULD LOSE MY ARM IF HE STARTS COILING". I'm just sitting there, mystified by the absolute stupidity. At that point I catch on to the fact that its a pet. I made the comment to my family in the room that just by looking at the snakes face, it had given up "resisting" after they got it off of the idiots leg. Not to mention the strangle hold he had on its neck that was pointless. I almost wish the snake WOULD have given a feeding response and taken them both out, I don't at the same time. I actually applaud the snake for its restraint. The poor thing, if it was my pet and I watched someone do that on national television. I would either be curb stomping him for it or I'd see him in court for animal abuse.

The worst part? The woman says "I had no idea he had a snake that big!" While holding a child. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! I was just furious. And you know the guy said "don't mess with this cage, this one needs nothing, do absolutely nothing with it".

I haven't seen the show, read too much on this site about how it generally goes :( Makes me glad I haven't had cable in years, who would want to watch this junk?

The only time I watched it where there was a snake, they came across it "by accident", at first he started screaming and freaking out that it was a copperhead, then (of course after suspense with a commercial) he realized it was a corn snake and picked it up to show the camera a docile adult corn.

That dude is an idiot, I've watched him a couple times while working midnights and it just seems fake and set up. Plus I understand everyone has their own style but all the spikes and his companies goth dress code seems unprofessional to me. I didn't see last nights but I hope he thought to take the spikes off his wrists before grabbing the retic. And since I'm not on tapatalk for once and I can use it :banana:

My name is Dave and I am a licensed New York State Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator. I agree that what Billy the Exterminator and "Turtle Man" do is unrealistic. This stuff is staged for television. I work for Nassau County Animal Control http://www.nassaucountyanimalcontrol.net and we remove a lot of wildlife including snakes and we don't grab and dangerous rabies vector animal like raccoons by hand.

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Originally Posted by Exterminator

My name is Dave and I am a licensed New York State Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator. I agree that what Billy the Exterminator and "Turtle Man" do is unrealistic. This stuff is staged for television. I work for Nassau County Animal Control http://www.nassaucountyanimalcontrol.net and we remove a lot of wildlife including snakes and we don't grab and dangerous rabies vector animal like raccoons by hand.

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I love that you made an account just for the one post :) I also love that you don't grab them by bare hands, I hear people say if they can do it then we can do it, then actually attempt the things they do. Glad their is still common sense out their :)

I hope he gets bit by a venomous animal and suffers life long debilitating injuries. Then one day as he is taking his meds to help cope with the pain he is suffering he chokes on a pill. But that doesn't kill him either just gives him a near death experience and he realizes what a screw up him and his show has been.

I watch the show purely for "entertainment" value, but I pretty much agree he's pretty stupid. I think it was the same episode, or another one that aired the same night, where he had a bat call. Makes a big point about how bats are major carriers of rabies. Maybe 5 or so minutes later into the show he's holding one of the bats with his bare hands and gets bit. Dumb.
(On a side note: One of my biologist coworkers is really into bats and has done quite a bit of research on them, including to experts from all over the country. Apparently they are not the big rabies carriers people make them out to be, with less than a third of the bat population actually carrying rabies. I find that interesting.)

That's all beside the fact his handling methods and procedures REALLY stress out those animals.

I don't and won't watch it. Watching those shows only gives them what they want, a bigger audience. Then they pump out more of them.

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Originally Posted by ChrisS

I hope he gets bit by a venomous animal and suffers life long debilitating injuries. Then one day as he is taking his meds to help cope with the pain he is suffering he chokes on a pill. But that doesn't kill him either just gives him a near death experience and he realizes what a screw up him and his show has been.

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what? :doh:

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Originally Posted by sorraia

I watch the show purely for "entertainment" value, but I pretty much agree he's pretty stupid. I think it was the same episode, or another one that aired the same night, where he had a bat call. Makes a big point about how bats are major carriers of rabies. Maybe 5 or so minutes later into the show he's holding one of the bats with his bare hands and gets bit. Dumb.
(On a side note: One of my biologist coworkers is really into bats and has done quite a bit of research on them, including to experts from all over the country. Apparently they are not the big rabies carriers people make them out to be, with less than a third of the bat population actually carrying rabies. I find that interesting.)

That's all beside the fact his handling methods and procedures REALLY stress out those animals.

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One third of millions and millions and millions of bats is still a lot of rabid bats.
As much as I dislike Billy and his antics, it is entirely probable that he is up to date on his rabies shots. My son is a wildlife biologist and worked with bats, he had to get vaccinated before he could start. He's working with endangered reticulated salamanders right now but is up to date on his rabies vaccine...and will probably stay that way. It's just a smart thing to do.

not all of his shows are bad watch the "beaver" episode i was in tears when i watched it when he starts talking about how thats the biggest beaver hes ever seen i fell out my chair laughing lol

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Originally Posted by Clementine_3

One third of millions and millions and millions of bats is still a lot of rabid bats.
As much as I dislike Billy and his antics, it is entirely probable that he is up to date on his rabies shots. My son is a wildlife biologist and worked with bats, he had to get vaccinated before he could start. He's working with endangered reticulated salamanders right now but is up to date on his rabies vaccine...and will probably stay that way. It's just a smart thing to do.

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I would hope he is up to date on his rabies vaccine, simply because the nature of his job puts him at higher risk than the general population to be exposed to rabies. That wasn't really my point though. My point was here he is emphasizing how the bats are a "major" carrier of rabies and then, in front of who knows who watching the program, he handles a bat and gets bit. Great example for the people watching.

I had to do a quick search to see what a better estimate of how many bats carry rabies. I'm reading 10% or less. Yes, that's still a lot of bats, but it is also far from the majority of bats, as is the common misconception. Most people will never even see a live wild bat in their lifetime, so regardless how many bats may exist (and that depends on where you live too, some bat populations are disappearing at an alarming rate in some areas of their historic range), the risk of exposure is probably pretty low for most people. Compare that to more likely rabies carriers, such as raccoon, skunk, fox, and even domestic cats and dogs, which people are much more likely to be exposed to, yet seem to be much less concerned about. After all... raccoons are just big fuzzy puppy dogs! (please note the sarcasm in that last statement. It is an annoyance of mine, as a wildlife biologist, the misconceptions people have about animals. Much like the misconceptions people have about the snakes we keep as pets, i.e. they are dangerous, slimy, aggressive, out to get people, bite for no reason, will chase us down to bite us, etc)

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Originally Posted by sorraia

I would hope he is up to date on his rabies vaccine, simply because the nature of his job puts him at higher risk than the general population to be exposed to rabies. That wasn't really my point though. My point was here he is emphasizing how the bats are a "major" carrier of rabies and then, in front of who knows who watching the program, he handles a bat and gets bit. Great example for the people watching.

I had to do a quick search to see what a better estimate of how many bats carry rabies. I'm reading 10% or less. Yes, that's still a lot of bats, but it is also far from the majority of bats, as is the common misconception. Most people will never even see a live wild bat in their lifetime, so regardless how many bats may exist (and that depends on where you live too, some bat populations are disappearing at an alarming rate in some areas of their historic range), the risk of exposure is probably pretty low for most people. Compare that to more likely rabies carriers, such as raccoon, skunk, fox, and even domestic cats and dogs, which people are much more likely to be exposed to, yet seem to be much less concerned about. After all... raccoons are just big fuzzy puppy dogs! (please note the sarcasm in that last statement. It is an annoyance of mine, as a wildlife biologist, the misconceptions people have about animals. Much like the misconceptions people have about the snakes we keep as pets, i.e. they are dangerous, slimy, aggressive, out to get people, bite for no reason, will chase us down to bite us, etc)

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Oh, I knew what you meant ;) Billy is, IMO, an idiot when it comes to handling and ID'ng things. I don't usually watch and just get annoyed when I do. He really does need to be less jerk-like and use a bit of caution, people are watching and will imitate what he does with possible dire results. I would still not wish him to be harmed though, although it probably will happen sooner or later.
The bats are dying off by the bazillions here, white nose syndrome. What a shame, they are really cool little critters.

The man is an idiot just like the turtle man. Yes it is a show and is done for the entertainment factor alone. But the way these nuts catch these animals is the part that amazes me. Most of these creatures are easy to catch they just don't know how.

And lets face it, if a person showed up at my house to remove an animal or whatever looking like they do he wouldn't get past the door. If you're dealing with the public you need to have a more professional look about you.

But some people like the show because they are funny, or at least they try to be, and as I said it is only for the entertainment value.

It would be nice though if they would be honest about the different animals they deal with rather than spin all those tales that they do.

Oh well, they didn't make the show for me.

I wish I could relate but I tell my PVR that I "dislike" any reality tv. This dude sounds like a manipulatable moron with a personality.