OK, have to chime in again.

Neither Jim or myself takes a salary from the zoo, though we do get *some* benefit from it- we live on site. Jim and I live off of the following: his pension from the police, and a small amount I make teaching community college. All non-profit tax returns are public record- you can look it up online if you feel you must verify this statement.

Believe me, I could make WAY more money doing almost anything else. I work 7 days a week, typically 10 hours a day. This year has been especially tough and I sometimes question if it is worth it. Jim doesn't need to work at all- he could just live on his pension and forget about the business if he wanted to. He believes venom may help people, that is why he does it.

I've known Jim for 12 years now. I would describe him as confident but not egotistical. In fact, he pushes me to talk to any media people as much as he can. Local news story on snakes? I'm the one who gets filmed. Animal Planet, however, sees him as what is interesting so that tactic doesn't work as well. We've had a Nat. Geo. producer tell us women won't work as hosts for animal shows because a woman handling animals would 'demystify' it too much.

You are free to your opinion, of course. My opinion is that poor keepers and those who sell to them have and will continue to do more damage to the hobby than any TV show ever will. I'm not saying anyone on this thread is such a person- but without those there wouldn't be any show to begin with.

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