Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I work at UPS and get bored at times and think or crazy situations
And got a crazy one on what if some dumb Joe shipped a box of venomous snakes threw us and the box came open for whatever reason... Now we are trained on what to do for hazardous material spilling (like cleaning stuff, lighter fluid, etc...) but nothing on snakes or any animal for that fact. Any ideas suggestions on what to do? I'm a member of a reptile rescue here in Jax,FL and can call someone who knows how to handle hots, but shouldn't someone keep an eye on the snake(s)?

also, I think this is funny,yet stupid, they had a sign out that says "If you see a HUB (that's what they call the factory) snake, pick if up and throw it away. This is no joke."

snakes in a hub. the next bad hollywood movie lol
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1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Rex- "normal" orange fire)
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Glutany- German Giant Mix)
0.1.0 Okeetee Corn (Okatee)
1.1.0 Spotted Python (Hotdog and Shoelace)

The safest thing to do would be to do nothing more than have phone numbers on hand of people who know what they're doing-animal removal people, maybe fish&game/DNR-keep track of where the snake is in the building, tell them when they get there. Anyone trying to catch it risks getting bitten, might as well keep the risk to those who are trained. Ideally it wouldn't happen at all(illegal), but we all know it's been done.

I'm part of the reptile rescue here, we are the ones that capture and release snakes, lizards that are native and people are like "OMG it's a(whatever)" We are the ones that animal control calls
We do have some in the organization that do handle hots.
But I was just wonderin that since I got bored..
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1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Rex- "normal" orange fire)
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Glutany- German Giant Mix)
0.1.0 Okeetee Corn (Okatee)
1.1.0 Spotted Python (Hotdog and Shoelace)

I would suggest contacting an employee in the Garden Dept. of the local (FL) Walmart. They are used to handling the venomous snakes found in all their plant pots.

But I don't work at wal-mart, this is the package center I'm talking about.
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1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Rex- "normal" orange fire)
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Glutany- German Giant Mix)
0.1.0 Okeetee Corn (Okatee)
1.1.0 Spotted Python (Hotdog and Shoelace)

That was a joke in reference to a few Rattlesnake incidents in the last few months at WalMart.
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Tim Cole
www.Designeratrox.com/
www.AustinReptileService.net
www.AustinReptileExpo.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<
Conservation through Education

I don't know for sure but I believe the official Wal-Mart procedure for responding to a venomous snake on premises involves a lot of screaming and running, at least thats what I saw when a 2-3' black racer went through the garden section in our local walmart.

They have experience with escapees.

MH

What????

Randal

Well a lot of places have no plan in place for a situation like that. We have taken a couple of hots that either escaped or were released last year. best thing to do is get everyone out and call in the people who know what to do.
Case in point, of people not knowing what they are doing.
I got called in on a snake loose in an apartment complex last summer. The residents thought it was a coral snake. I knew from the description it couldn't be a coral (much to big). I got the times and locations where it was spotted and went back a 2 days in a row to see if I could get it. Some drunken slobs saw it and chopped it , almost, in two. Of course the animal was in terrible pain while it waited to die. On inspection of the remains it was classified as a pueblan milk snake (hope I spelled it right - have no memory for spelling). A beautiful animal, which I could have placed with a number of qualified keepers. Dead because people who don't know what they are doing freaked out and did stupid stuff.

Think about the cases where we have recovered actual hots. With the idiots out there watching animal shows thinking they can handle a hot.

John Poe
S/E Michigan Reptile Rescue
http://www.alligatorshows.com
S/E Michigan Reptile Rescue