Reptile & Amphibian Forums

http://ksax.com/article/stories/S1683743.shtml?cat=10230

Escaped black mamba terrorizes MN town, is killed by heroic citizen

This was on the herp law forum but I thought is should be here.
There is a similar article about an escaped anaconda on the bullsnake forum.
I can no longer contain my snake hysteria!
Black Mamba in MN

That was truly a three ring circus!!....The "professionals" involved were also as novice as a kindergarten child for chrissakes!!

"mystery snake" my a$$!..LOL!! the names copperhead, garter snake, black mamba, etc..were as comical as you could POSSIBLY get!!

Yes, now the great county is safe once again!!...HAHAHAAAA!!!!

Every last person involved with that harmless Black Ratsnake's death should be slapped right in the head!

To be quite honest, these three chaps would have done a much better job of identifying that snake..LOL!

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

It is a black rat, which is a species of special concern as stated by the idiot DNR guy who could not give a positive ID on it, and the people responsible for the death of the animal are in violation of a wildlife law. Now I am sure the DNR would be right there to take the collection of someone keeping black rats as pets, so they should be equally ready to cite someone for killing one. They should also being doing a better job of educating the public on the protected status if they protected.

Jason

Yeah, it's quite okay to KILL protected animals, just not okay to own a healthy LIVE one....HAHAHAHAAA!!!

Irony at it's VERY best!. Yes, just like I first said, a genuine "THREE RING CIRCUS"!!!!!!!

I could have told them it was a Black ratsnake back in 1968 when I was in third grade, yet all those countless adult morons involved couldn't figure it out to save their sole's..LOL!!!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Doug, she did do her research...

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The large snake entering the neighborhood has caused the Keppers to investigate the reptile themselves and they are pretty confident they know what slithered into their yard.

"It's a Black Mamba," Vanessa said. "They're poisonous; they have a black underside which this snake did, and then it has a full black body."
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See all my snakes at SerpenTrack.com

HAHAHAAA!!

Yeah Brad!, that was very similar to some "research" a friend of my mom's did on a hatchling yellow Rat in her yard that they killed. She told me she "googled" some pics up on the internet, and she ID'ed it as being just like a pigmy rattlesnake she saw from the piedmont area...LOL!

She emailed me a pic of the poor dead little dude, and I told her..."FORGET ABOUT THE PIGMY THING!!!"....you just killed a totally harmless little Yellow Ratsnake!..ARRGHH!!

When I told her and showed her a bunch of different pics of how they ontogenetically change as they mature from a blotched to a striped pattern, she said,..."wow!, you are right Doug!"......I told her ...yeah, "NO DUHHH I am right!"..LMAO!!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Not only that, but the common names, "Black Rat Snake" and "Black Mamba" both begin with the word "Black", so the misidentification is understandable...NOT!!!
If they knew what a Naja melanoleuca was, it would never have been mistaken for that!

Yeah, I'm surprised that "Cobra" wasn't one of the silly-ass names that also came up if it tried to defend itself just before being whacked!. Just as ridiculous as the other's they came up with.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Ignorant jacka**es! A little knowledge is dangerous and when you combine that with a passing interest in an episode of "the most dangerous" on the discovery channel it makes the average idiot think he or she an expert on snakes.
Shark week should have them looking for great whites in the great lakes. Dumb *sses.
This kind of thing makes my blood boil.
And we all know how stupid the press can be with a complete disregard on getting the facts correct. All they care about is pumping up a story, truth is secondary.
But...the DNR can't ID a black rat??? what the heck???
Took me a milisecond to see it to be a black rat and they are supposed to be the authority????
Don't they do the most basic research on the wildlife the a supposed to protect? It amazes me on how little they know there jobs. There once was a time when Forest rangers were recruted from loggers and really did little more. Now a four year degree is required for the forest service to consider you for employment yet example after example shows how little they (as a a whole)know about the basic wildlife they are charged to protect.
Sorry for the rant, couldn't help it.(Bob Assetto,you know what I mean don't you)
Mike.

That was all SPOT-ON!, and every single one of those things you mentioned really bend me out'a shape too.

Just like you said, Vanessa the "expert" there wouldn't even know what a Black Mamba WAS if she didn't just casually see them on TV from time to time. I'll bet she is QUITE the coral snake expert too..HAHAHAAA!!

CORAL SNAKE (identified by Vanessa)

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

These days a four year degree simply means you can read, write, cheat and plagerize. Don't expect much more than that.

...and a high school diploma certifies that you can use an iphone, send text messages, own facebook and myspace accounts, and have probably had more sex in your junior year than people of the previous generation have had in their whole lives.
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See all my snakes at SerpenTrack.com

HAHAA!!, That was just as accurately put as the other stuff Brad!..LMAO!!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

Well on another forum, someone local to the area said that F&G did actually ID the snake correctly but the news station went to publishing the story before they got the response. This is just one more example of how bad the news is and how little you should trust anything they have to report on if you are not personally involved in the subject. Odds are they got it completely wrong, like immigration...

Jason

Sadly the NYS people aren't any more educated. I applied for a permit for an Indigo. They sent me a venomous application. I called them to point out their error and the chick on the phone (on the third or fourth try) fought with me that Indigos were venomous. I should have stuck with that as that permit is EASIER to get than the endangered species. As it was they granted me the permit and I got my baby. Went to renew and they have never gotten back to me. I have tried for several YEARS on the phone, email and letters. Nothing. So my baby is mostly grown and I can't use him for educational exhibits. Interestingly I think it is even MORE illegal if I tried to get rid of him.....like that would ever happen.

Likewise the DEC has come into the local pet store and not known species. Tried to tell them a Blood was illegal. Nope, sorry, not on your giants list. AND when the same pet store helped local police "capture" a released Burm ( a horrifying 7 ft baby girl) , and rehomed it to a Pennsylvanian after the DEC did NOT return phone calls..... about a month later the DEC came in looking for the illegal to posses snake and accusing them of breaking the law.

Don't even get me going on their inability to id exotic birds.

Amazing to me that these people keep their jobs. Guess chief qualifications are telling deer from cows, dogs and goats and measuring fish. Sad, very sad.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

They need to hire chimps there instead. At least THAT way they would gladly accept being paid in bananas and not the people's hard earned tax dollar money!!!!!!

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

anaconda in Springfield...expert got it...exterminator...could grow to 18 foot....wow...a baby anaconda....LOL...and hung it by the neck in tongs....watch video....poor thing...

and it isn't a 'conda....!......

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................JY

Yeah, I went over there and saw that very informative video the "expert" exterminator dude narrated for us, and the fabulous news clip.

All I can say is, I hope none of them passed on their "dumb genes" to any children!

That IDIOT standing in front of the bucket saying the bullsnake could get 18 plus feet or so was worthy of a comedy skit on "Saturday Night Live"..LOL!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

This was a close one. Observers say an attack was imminent. Luckily a quick thinking family member who was close by with implements of destruction sprang into action and saved the toddler from certain doom.

Neighborhood experts were baffled by the existence of such a creature so far from it's natural range. One woman exclaimed "They need to stay where they belong. This is America, not Egypt".

DNR has enlisted the help of wildlife-google-image-search-expert Vanessa to help ID the wicked killer and they have settles on a super hybrid Anaconda/Devil. Apparently this snake uses candy to lure in it's victims. Even worse she points out how it was wrapped around eggs that if they hatch could contain another super hybrid flying medusa snake that is bend on world destruction.

"These things are sold to 12 year olds and given away free with packs of gum." "It's got to stop" exclaimed senator D. Umbass. Senator Umbass is vowing to eliminate all snakes from the state with the help of Saint Patrick if re-elected. "We need to keep our streets safe for children". "Forget drugs and gang violence, these are the real menace 2 society".

Yes, spoken like a true newspaper writer/"investigator"..LOL!!

I think Vanessa was actually a chidren's book fiction writer!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -serpentinespecialties.webs.com

A close relative of that same killer snake was in my kitchen also!!!! Be afraid ... they must be breeding!!

Either that or they have really cool easter baskets at Wal-mart!

Steve

While black rat snakes may be a 'species of special concern' in MN, it does not afford them protection. They can be killed and they can be kept as pets (unless local law prohibits it). This was a case of an escaped pet, and local MN DNR biologist (who specializes in deer/waterfowl) getting caught on tape talking about something he knows nothing about. The media was informed of the proper ID BEFORE the clip aired, but they decided to use the more 'interesting' information.

Just an FYI.
-Chris
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Christopher E. Smith
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