Vote for BP.Net for the 2013 Forum of the Year! Click here for more info.

» Site Navigation

» Home
 > FAQ

» Online Users: 2,844

2 members and 2,842 guests
Most users ever online was 6,337, 01-24-2020 at 04:30 AM.

» Today's Birthdays

None

» Stats

Members: 75,031
Threads: 248,489
Posts: 2,568,441
Top Poster: JLC (31,651)
Welcome to our newest member, isismomma
Results 1 to 10 of 10
  1. #1
    BPnet Veteran Ax01's Avatar
    Join Date
    06-14-2015
    Location
    Emerald City
    Posts
    6,183
    Thanks
    2,581
    Thanked 6,152 Times in 3,380 Posts

    Interesting Italian Snake Festival

    ok i saw a quick news clip of this last week but forgot to follow-up on researching it a bit more. here's the news clip: https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/news...int/vi-AAwBdVf

    so it seems that every May 1st, Cocullo, a tiny Italian village of less than 300 peeps gets flooded by thousands of more peeps fore the annual Festa dei Serpari or Serpent Festival. they celebrate Saint Domenico who was the protector toothaches and healer of bites (i.e. snake bites) by parading a statue of him through town draped in locally caught snakes. apparently he also cleared the fields of thousands of snakes (like Saint Patrick did).

    (actually historians beleive that the tradition goes back to ancient times of when the locals used to worship Angitia - the snake goddess.)

    anyways here's some pix. they're a mix of non-venomous colubrids - four-lined, aesculapian, grass and green whip snakes. also some look real sizable!



    read more and see more pix here: https://www.thelocal.it/20180502/pic...stival-cocullo

    also an old article from 2014 says de-fanged (even tho they are non-venomous): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/ar...al-Snakes.html

    anyways the snakes are re-released back into the wild after the festival.
    RIP Mamba
    ----------------

    Wicked ones now on IG & FB!6292

  2. The Following 7 Users Say Thank You to Ax01 For This Useful Post:

    Avsha531 (05-09-2018),Bogertophis (05-09-2018),EL-Ziggy (05-09-2018),Kam (05-09-2018),Reinz (05-09-2018),Sonny1318 (05-09-2018),tttaylorrr (05-09-2018)

  3. #2
    BPnet Lifer EL-Ziggy's Avatar
    Join Date
    11-05-2014
    Location
    GA
    Posts
    4,190
    Thanks
    5,014
    Thanked 5,484 Times in 2,683 Posts

    Re: Interesting Italian Snake Festival

    Cool story. Thanks for sharing Ax!
    3.0 Carpet Pythons, 1.1 Bullsnakes
    1.0 Olive Python 1.0 Scrub Python,
    1.0 BI, 0.1 BCO

  4. #3
    Registered User AnnieHeart's Avatar
    Join Date
    04-14-2018
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    516
    Thanks
    5
    Thanked 207 Times in 186 Posts
    Very cool!
    ~Annie
    ~

  5. #4
    BPnet Senior Member tttaylorrr's Avatar
    Join Date
    11-10-2014
    Location
    Chicago, Illinois USA
    Posts
    5,704
    Thanks
    4,501
    Thanked 5,435 Times in 2,891 Posts
    Images: 22
    ...this is terrible. how are those poor animals going to be able to eat when they're released back into the wild? this is animal cruelty.
    4.4 ball python
    1.0 Albino 0.1 Coral Glow 0.1 Super Cinnamon paradox 1.0 Piebald 0.1 Pastel Enchi Leopard het Piebald 1.0 Coral Glow het Piebald

    1.0 corn snake
    1.0 Hypo

    1.0 crested gecko
    0.1 ????

    0.1 cat
    0.1 Maine Coon mix

    0.1 human ✌︎

  6. #5
    BPnet Senior Member Sonny1318's Avatar
    Join Date
    07-02-2014
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    2,262
    Thanks
    4,720
    Thanked 1,538 Times in 1,148 Posts
    Images: 9
    Way cool, I feel proud I’m half Italian.

  7. #6
    BPnet Veteran Ax01's Avatar
    Join Date
    06-14-2015
    Location
    Emerald City
    Posts
    6,183
    Thanks
    2,581
    Thanked 6,152 Times in 3,380 Posts

    Re: Interesting Italian Snake Festival

    Quote Originally Posted by tttaylorrr View Post
    ...this is terrible. how are those poor animals going to be able to eat when they're released back into the wild? this is animal cruelty.
    i'm not sure the extent of the de-fanging is as these snakes don't have fangs. i've only seen it mentioned in the older 2014 article and not anywhere else. but hopefully it is not a common practice for all the townsfolks. also the article does mention that they begin collecting the snakes a month prior and feed them hard boiled eggs (!) and mice. anyways if true, 1) they should stop, 2) i hope they snakes regenerate their teeth ASAP.
    RIP Mamba
    ----------------

    Wicked ones now on IG & FB!6292

  8. #7
    BPnet Lifer Reinz's Avatar
    Join Date
    08-05-2013
    Location
    East TX
    Posts
    8,019
    Thanks
    5,613
    Thanked 4,602 Times in 3,139 Posts
    Images: 9
    Looks like fun for all.

    I do do wonder what the truth is behind removing fangs vs teeth and if all of them are released or not.
    The one thing I found that you can count on about Balls is that they are consistent about their inconsistentcy.

    1.2 Coastal Carpet Pythons
    Mack The Knife, 2013
    Lizzy, 2010
    Etta, 2013
    1.1 Jungle Carpet Pythons
    Esmarelda , 2014
    Sundance, 2012
    2.0 Common BI Boas, Punch, 2005; Butch, age?
    0.1 Normal Ball Python, Elvira, 2001
    0.1 Olive (Aussie) Python, Olivia, 2017

    Please excuse the spelling in my posts. Auto-Correct is my worst enema.

  9. #8
    Bogertophis's Avatar
    Join Date
    04-28-2018
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    20,182
    Thanks
    28,081
    Thanked 19,739 Times in 11,797 Posts
    I have a hunch they just tell people that they're "de-fanged" so they don't worry...many people think all snakes have fangs, & these are being handled & all?
    And if any of them yawn, "hey, see? No fangs!" They'd better NOT be pulling their teeth out!

  10. #9
    BPnet Senior Member tttaylorrr's Avatar
    Join Date
    11-10-2014
    Location
    Chicago, Illinois USA
    Posts
    5,704
    Thanks
    4,501
    Thanked 5,435 Times in 2,891 Posts
    Images: 22

    Re: Interesting Italian Snake Festival

    Quote Originally Posted by Ax01 View Post
    i'm not sure the extent of the de-fanging is as these snakes don't have fangs. i've only seen it mentioned in the older 2014 article and not anywhere else. but hopefully it is not a common practice for all the townsfolks. also the article does mention that they begin collecting the snakes a month prior and feed them hard boiled eggs (!) and mice. anyways if true, 1) they should stop, 2) i hope they snakes regenerate their teeth ASAP.
    i actually didn't even think about if they can regrow their teeth; i wonder how long that takes? regardless, any instance of defanging is cruel, and i bet it's still practiced due to the religious side of the fest and their antiquity.

    those are incredible photos, tho. with the snakes on the statue. thanks for sharing.
    4.4 ball python
    1.0 Albino 0.1 Coral Glow 0.1 Super Cinnamon paradox 1.0 Piebald 0.1 Pastel Enchi Leopard het Piebald 1.0 Coral Glow het Piebald

    1.0 corn snake
    1.0 Hypo

    1.0 crested gecko
    0.1 ????

    0.1 cat
    0.1 Maine Coon mix

    0.1 human ✌︎

  11. #10
    Bogertophis's Avatar
    Join Date
    04-28-2018
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    20,182
    Thanks
    28,081
    Thanked 19,739 Times in 11,797 Posts
    As far as the snakes being "de-fanged", that might have been a language misinterpretation* also. I really don't think those wonderful quatuorlineatas would be as calm
    & gracious about all the handling if their mouths were hurting, do you?

    *It's only the 2nd article, & if the writer knew much of anything, he'd know it's impossible: The non-poisonous snakes have their fangs removed prior to the event



    Last edited by Bogertophis; 05-09-2018 at 03:25 PM.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v4.2.1