Danville officials launch "snakes in a pool" probe

Four Danville City Commissioners along with the city manager expressed concern Monday about a recent incident involving The Turtleman, snakes and the pool at the William E. “Bunny” Davis Recreation Complex.



On a recent episode of Animal Planet’s “Call of the Wildman,” Lebanon native Ernie Brown Jr. in his role as The Turtleman, dramatically removed poisonous Cottonmouth snakes from what he identified as the Danville-Boyle County community pool. The Bunny Davis pool is the only facility that fits the filmed footage and the verbal description, Danville Mayor Bernie Hunstad acknowledged during Monday’s City Commission meeting.



Commissioners and city officials have dealt with a few panicked residents, especially those who have children. Commissioners James “J.H.” Atkins and Paul Smiley both recently visited the pool and want members of the public to know there is not any type of snake problem.



Jim Harrison, director at Kentucky’s Reptile Zoo in Slade, recently told WLEX 18 in Lexington that Cottonmouth snakes are only found in western Kentucky. He claims the episode was a fake, a point that commissioners reviewed Monday.



“But (then) you actually have the producers saying it was real,” Hunstad said.



John Drake, director of Danville-Boyle County Parks and Recreation, was not present at Monday’s commission meeting, which drew Atkins’ concern. However, City Manager Ron Scott pointed out that Drake was not specifically asked to attend the meeting. Atkins said due to the recent negative media coverage, Drake should have been present even without a formal invitation.



Atkins said he wishes to ask Drake questions such as, “What actually happened at the pool?”



Hunstad is concerned about whether Drake or other involved employees received money for The Turtleman episode and why they signed confidentiality agreements with Animal Planet without speaking to elected officials. The mayor also said that type of filming potentially places both the city and county governments in a position of liability; the city and county jointly own and insure the entire Bunny Davis complex.



Atkins made a motion that authorizes Scott to conduct an inquiry regarding The Turtleman incident at the pool. The motion also stipulated that Scott would invite county officials to join the fact-finding mission. Boyle Fiscal Court had a meeting scheduled for this morning and the mayor said he would not be surprised if magistrates discussed the snakes in the pool episode.



Hunstad seconded Atkins’ motion. If county officials do not join the fact-finding effort, Scott is still authorized to investigate the situation.



All commissioners present voted to approve the pool inquiry. Commissioner Kevin Caudill was absent.

articles.centralkynews.com/2013-06-11/amnews/39879677_1_turtleman-ernie-brown-jr-danville-city

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