Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am 15 and do snake removal in eastern nc, I do not keep hots at the time to yung and dont have the experience to keep them. I have GG tongs, standerd tongs, standerd hook, collasibel hook, standerd bagger, pro field hook, small hook. all by mid-west. I have fount the Gentel Ginet tong the most handy for the hots I have hade to remove. what is your favorite tool

People will take you a lot more seriously once you learn to communicate in an adequate semblance of an actual language.
It should look a little more like this:

"I am 15 and do snake removals in eastern NC. I do not keep any hots at this time - too young and don't have the experience to keep them. I have GG tongs, standard tongs, standard hook, collapsible hook, standard bagger, pro field hook, and small hook - all by mid-west. I have found the Gentle Giant tongs to be the most handy for the hots that I have had to remove. What is your favorite tool?"

To answer your question:
I almost never use tongs and find my hooks to be most valuable for snake removals.

Masticating Mozzarella,
The Mouse In The House

np

Actually it should be "You're a prick."

"You're" is a contraction of "You are."

"Your" idicates ownership.

Well, maybe Gargoyle420 was trying to refer to the prick that belongs to AnonEMouse.

Well, maybe Gargoyle420 was trying to refer to the prick that belongs to AnonEMouse.

With all this grammar...I'm either back in school or dreaming of MY FAIR LADY.....Frank

Good one, Frank!

Unfortunately, one would have to possess some familiarity with literature and performing arts other than comic books and cartoons to understand it.

But, the man does have a point. I don't think he was trying to be a prick at all. I think he was making a valid point. In any kind of business, be it roofing or Herpetology, one of the keys to success is having an ability to communicate properly. If you plan to work in the field of Herpetology (or any scientific field) this is infinitely more important. Can you imagine submitting a paper to Herp Journal that was written in the fashion of that post?

When you see a 15 year old making posts like that one, it indicates one of two things:

1) He doesn't have the skills to communicate in a clear and concise fashion.

2) He is lazy and doesn't proofread and correct his communications before posting it.

One is just as bad as the other. Both problems result in nearly unreadable communications. If a person has to work to understand what someone is trying to communicate, that person is likely to just ignore it. Then the communication fails to accomplish the goal that the writer had in mind.

At 15 years old, the writer should have enough education and writing skills to communicate in a much more articulate fashion. If he doesn't have those skills then he does, in fact, need to stay in school. If he does have those skills, but chooses not to use them, that shows a certain level of disrespect for his readers.

The bottom line is if you want to be taken seriously, you have to communicate well. I would say that this was an attempt to help, not ridicule.

To “Re”, or not to “Re”, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous diction;
Or to take arms against a sea of misspellings,
And by opposing, end them:

Sorry Bard

It's unfortunate that some do not realize they are being evaluated by a reader when they post in a public forum. This is a one sided medium. Unless the reader has had the fortune to meet the poster they live by the post, and sometimes die by the post.

Regards,
J.

I had to read that a couple of times....

What Jeff said!

Ah...My Thespian roots are showing...But I agree with your assesment. I think the point here (for both parties)is.... It's not what you say...it's the way that you say it...a lesson I (blush) recently learned...Frank

First off asswipe he's 15 YO. This isn't an essay and I dont think he is really concerned about his misspellings and grammar usage. If you dislike it that much then get your damn teaching degree and home school him hotshot. I am sure that has he goes through school in life he will learn to correct his grammar and begin having a slightly better sentence structure and all of the unnecessary bulls*** that we dont really give a rats ass about in this forum. If anybody is a prick it is the people who are discouraging him from staying in the forum. If you notice he hasn't come back to talk since that time because people decided to be "Pricks" since that is everyones favorite insult in this forum. Instead of discouraging him by telling him technically that he is inadequate to be in this forum because he can't spell as good as some hopefully college graduates that we have in this forum. He's young and still learning. Quit being "Pricks" and give the kid some respect for atleast coming out among the people here and asking a question that to him was legitimate. Now who are the PRICKS? PRICKS

And your concerned answer to his question is?
For what it's worth, I HAVE my teaching certificate.
I HAVE my college degree (probably from before you were born).
I HAVE raised all of my children to adulthood with a firm grasp of the English language.
AND most importantly - I answered the kid's question which you DID NOT.
Something about removing the mote from thine own eye comes to mind! But of course, they don't teach that sort of thing in school anymore.
How sad for you to have so much misplaced rage.
Grinning From Atop The Gouda,
The Mouse In The House

Im sure your teaching degree makes you far more superior than the 15 YO you decided to lecture for his spelling. And as far as I am concerned, you may have your teaching degree but obviously you aren't too good of a teacher because none of the teachers I have ever had would have lectured the kid and made him look like a fool in front of everyone else. You could have simply given him the correct spelling for his future reference instead of the whole lecture you hit him with. I am glad you have your teaching degree but what good does it do you if you dont know how to teach? Go grade some papers or something and leave the teenagers alone.

Happy from a full stomach
The Reticulated Python that ate the Mouse in the House

Perhaps you will understand that so many of us have had fun (at your expense), because of the arrogant nature of your address to the boy. You were aloof, condescending and while you DID answer his question, it was utterly without compassion. You may as well have been dissecting a frog. So what if his spelling was not perfect...Niether is mine and I'm probably as gray in the temples as you. As my wife, (who is also a teacher) read your posts she made the assumption that you were probably an English Professor. Most of the people who submit here make spelling errors...This is not what this forum is about. It is about teaching these kids the safe way to work with venomous reptiles and giving them a place to have their questions answered. I advise you to seek out a English Grammar forum where your critisism might be more welcome...Frank

While I agree in spirit with your comments to the "professor", I doubt that you will have much effect on him. However, nice try! Frank

that people feel the need to get on here and use abusive, obscene language when they disagree with someone? What's wrong with simply saying "I disagree with what you are saying and think that your response was inappropriate?" Why do we need to call each other "Pricks" and "Asswipes" and such? I sincerely doubt that either of these folks would say that to that person's face. Is it because they can do so with relative safety hiding behind their computers? I mean, let's face it...if they responded that way to everyone they disagree with in real life, they would spend a good portion of their lives in physical confrontations and settling them in court. Is it because they don't have a strong enough command of the English Language to make their points without using vulgarities and dirty names? Just curious....

Oldherper,

I took the time to think about this one. Yes I was a little frustrated at first. For those in here who are reading this and find the language offensive, I apologize. There are people in this forum who do not use profane language and find it offensive. At the same time I donot apologize to the ones that are hammering at the boy for his very simple question. He was only being nice and trying to get in with everyone else in here. Obviously, these people donot care about others feelings in here so why should I care about theirs?

however, I still don't think that AnonEmouse was intentionally hammering the kid or trying to be a jerk or anything like that. I think maybe his response was a little strong, and perhaps had the look of sarcasm, but he made a good point. Perhaps a little more tact would have been in order, but his point remains. Hopefully, Copperheadkid will take it that way, too...and not just get discouraged and leave.

IMHO, how you present yourself, be it in person or in script, is everything. Right or wrong, people form an opinion of you by how you present yourself. I'm not saying they should, but it's human nature. If you (even in this forum) cannot communicate effectively, you are going to be largely ignored and considered as less intelligent whether you really are or not. It's the same way in real life. The people that go places and are given opportunities are the effective communicators. You know that as well as I do. You may have a good idea, but if you can't communicate it, it's worthless. People who can communicate effectively and have that capability to write clearly and concisely but choose not to because they don't want to take the time and effort, in my opinion, show a lack of respect to the people that they want to read their writings or answer their questions. On this forum, we can't see the people we are communicating with. The only opinion we can form of them is based on what and how they write.

One of the things that makes this sort of communication frustrating is the overuse and abuse of slang and abbreviation. Not everyone knows what FWC and EDB and JCP mean. They could mean anything, but people for some reason insist on peppering their posts with these things. I even saw someone using PD in here. I didn't have a clue what the heck that was. Come to find out, it's Prairie Dog. Come on, now...this is a reptile forum..how the heck is anyone supposed to know what that means? To me, it's pure laziness. It's easier and faster to type EDB that Eastern Diamondback. To heck with whether everyone understands what you mean, let's just take the easy way. Couple that with words that are misspelled, poor grammar and incomplete or nonsequetorial sentences and you have a post that is just way too much trouble to try to decipher. As much as you may want to help someone, you aren't going to spend 30 minutes trying to figure out what all the abbreviations mean and what he actually meant to say or ask as opposed to what was really written. An occasional misspelled word is certainly forgiveable, but when you have a post where at least 20 percent of the words are misspelled, it is full of obscure abbreviations and slang terms and half the sentences are incomplete or make no sense whatever, then it becomes just too much drudgery to read them. Nobody is going to fault anyone for writing a scientific name as Crotalus adamanteus instead of Crotalus adamanteus or Crotalus adamanteus or Crotalus adamanteus, because it is still easily understandable even if it isn't technically correct.

I have put together (for this very reason) a Glossary of terms and abbreviations commonly used on this forum (including biological and genetics related terms) and submitted it to the moderators so that they can put it somewhere on here for people to use. I spent about 2 days working on it, and Paul Hollander spent a couple of days reviewing and editing it. I submitted it 3 weeks ago and Bonnie still hasn't gotten back to me on the final disposition. I see and answer probably 2 or 3 posts a week asking what this or that abbreviation or word means and usually they have a whole list of them. How many people would you think don't ask because they don't want to appear dumb? How much fun would it be to try to read this forum if you didn't understand any of the jargon? I think a Glossary is something that is sorely needed here, but apparently it's not a high priority.

Send me one Mr. G. Always willing to learn. My guess is that KS may be reluctant to endorse your efforts without checking them out thoroughly. Sets 'em up for a lot of contention don't ya know. No good deed goes unpunished...

Regards,
J.

Hoping not to become persona non grata...

I understand what Anonemouse was saying. It wasn't what he said, it was more less how his response was presented. I personally felt it was rude and uncalled for. Just the Subject line was like shooting at the kid. "Stay in school!" When you tell someone to just stay in school especially with an exclamation point at the end you are not just helping the kid understand. You are technically bad mouthing him without the use of profane words. I just as much as anyone believe that people should be able to present themselves in an appropriate way meaning being able to speak and spell and write to the point that people understand the objective clearly and are able to give an appropriate response. Anonemouse was grading the kid on his own personal grading scale probably college level. He's 15. There was simply no need for the response to be that sharp. I wasnt disagreeing with the message, I was disagreeing with the way it was presented. That was all. I do apologize for the language to all of you who found it offensive.

>>With all this grammar...I'm either back in school or dreaming of MY FAIR LADY.....Frank

>>With all this grammar...I'm either back in school or dreaming of MY FAIR LADY.....Frank

another!
You're right, of course.
I probably should have responded with a misspelled epithet in the subject line and never even bothered to answer his question at all. Kind of like ... YOU!
My intention was never to ridicule. It was merely a matter of presentation. Believe it or not, I was once young too. I learned the hard way that people respond to how you present yourself long before they even consider what you might think is your pressing issue.
In example, look at how long this thread has become. Almost all of the responses here have to do with whether or not it is necessary to be able to spell rather than what is the individual poster's preferred snake removal tool. Some have even waxed poetic
As for whether or not I am or have a prick...
Your concern over my physical person is neither required nor desired. It isn't even germaine to the original post. If you mean to imply that I resemble that particular part of YOUR body, I fear for your procreative abilities. Perhaps you should consider using tongs!
Enjoying The Moment While Eating Edam,
The Mouse In The House

If your inclined to think (my friend)
Our grammar to be pathetic.
Or...that the use of epithets
should be deemed pathetic.
Permit this query from one so bold
to ponder about a Prick;
Do you querry about the probe, the prod
...or the kind that just plain stick?
In all the light that falls in jest,
while attacking the verbal tyranny,
I suggest dear friend...please lighten up
Your syntax is quite dear to me!

Frank

Grammarical fopauh?

N/P

there was a valid question being posed in the original post. Mayhaps that is illustrative of the point. No matter.

I'd say in answer to the original question; use whatever tool (s) you feel most comfortable using with the following caveat:

The tool should not risk;
1. Injury to the handler
2. Endangerment of others
3. Injury to the animal.

Sticking to Stilton,
J.

Oh, yeah...you are absolutely right. Sort of reinforces the point made here about poorly written posts being largely ignored, doesn't it?

I agree with Shadindigo. My favorite tool is the one that's going to keep me or anyone else from being bitten by the snake I'm handling at the moment, without causing harm to the snake.

What that means is that the tool for the job is going to vary depending on the job. You wouldn't want to try to use a 36" recurve hook to move a neonate Cottonmouth from one tank to another any more than you would want to try to move a 4' Gabooon Viper with an 18" cage hook. Nor would you want to try to handle an 8' Black Mamba with Pillstrom Tongs. It can be done, but there are easier and safer ways. Some things will just tend to get you or the snake hurt in a hurry. If you are going to work with venomous snakes, you have to have an array of tools and pick the right one for what you are doing at the moment. So, I don't have a favorite...they are all my favorites depending on the situation.

I'd say for what you are wanting to do, I'd have the following on hand (at a minimum):

24" hook
40" hook
40" tong
snake bagger and bags
wooden locking transport boxes

I would suggest a good field guide....Frank

What everyone said, along with a brain and a healthy does of common cents

I think my favorite tool would have to be my hands but only when I'm dealing with spitting cobras.

p.s. If you are going to act like you are young & can't spell, make the word 'experience' incorrect, not the word 'young'. It's more believable that way.

Just couldn't resist.....................Frank

You guys are killin' me!

Look copperheadkid,

Dont be concerned about the idiots in this forum giving you a hard time. You are young and still learning. I dont really think even though you may be doing removals that you are really ready to own a venomous snake. Man, people are killed everyday by these things. All it will take is one slight mistake and for you to slip up and get tagged. If you do decide to get one I cannot suggest enough to be extremely cautious. Venomous snakes are not captive bred ball pythons. They bite. And they are extremely quick. I would strongly suggest giving some more thought and consideration into this and if the thought of getting one still remains then consider something that doesnt have such as aggressive nature. That is what I am aiming for. And be sure that you have supervision by someone older while doing so and I dont mean your 17 year old sister. A parent is more ideal. Well happy herping man and dont let these people get you down big guy.

Wow, bet you got alot more than you posted for....a lesson in unprofessionality? Immature behavior? poor ethics? As well as a whole slew of other unimportant to this forum behaviors.
If you would like to find some real peers or professional associates, go to a herp club meeting, or to the local zoo and meet face to face with people who are happy to help, email me, . ( I work with 280 species of reptiles, over 1000 animals ) I'll be glad to help. Unfortunately, the internet has ruined this hobby for all. Go back to the old days and read books and talk to people who really appreciate a young persons interest. You will make it much farther in this world, the internet, this site and many like them are full of poor misinformation, ego's and bad habits.
If you use tongs on a snake in as gentle of a manner as you can, it may cause some discomfort and/or severe injuries to the snake. However, it is better than the neighbors lawnmower if you were not around. Do what is comfortable to you, better yet find someone in the area with knowledge and skills to help you attain the skills you are looking for. Just don't get bitten. There is no reason or excuse to recieve a bite other than OOPS! I screwed up, no matter what anyone tells you!
Let me know if I can help further.
For everyone that needs it grow up or get out! Before we ruin the hobby for everyone. Keep your mouths shut!