Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Man is that guy a fruitloop or what?
I enjoyed it up until he found the Spectacled Cobra and then found myself overwhelmed with dismay at the fellows complete lack of respect for the animals'ability to kill him.
When he finally found the King Cobra and touched it on the head because he "always wanted to" I found myself wondering what in the world Animal Planet was thinking when they decided to air a show with such ridiculous antics and bravado.
If I'm not mistaken this is the same fellow who was bitten by two of the seven snakes he was after in his last episode.

Just my input
Jackie Lapradd

Thanks

"In Search of the King Cobra". Austin Stevens is the handler.

It IS the same guy and he IS a fruitloop. Naturally, they showed him jumping into the water (again) after a water snake like it was a big deal. I almost expected him to let loose with a Tarzan yell. I also saw no need for him to pick up the king twice. All in all, not high on my list of TV herpers.
Bill Huseth
kcf

I must admit when I tuned in and saw who it was I groaned "oh no, not THAT guy." I was just glad to find a snake show I hadn't seen yet, but his tough guy antics make me wanna puke.

By the way, I was only half way paying attention after it went off, but he also had a show about anacondas that came on right after it, and if I'm not mistaken, it opened with another scene of him jumping in the water after a snake.

What bothers me the most I think is the way went on and on about how surprised he was that the king he found in the wild was so docile. Duh! Whoever raised that king keeps it so fat it can hardly move and I'm sure it gets handled daily.
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Larry D. Fishel
Side effects may include paralysis
and death but are generally mild.

In regards to your post about the king being captive, do you think the gaboon viper in that last show he had was captive also?

I know they aren't the biggest strikers, but I just can't imagine jumping into a river to catch a wild gaboon viper and then just picking it up.

He also made SUCH a big deal about how he actually found a gaboon viper and that no one would have believed him. This is what caught me as odd after reading your last post.

Dave

>>In regards to your post about the king being captive, do you think the gaboon viper in that last show he had was captive also?

That was my assumption when I saw that episode. Frankly I would be surprised if that one wasn't venomoid too...but maybe he really is that insane. It generally seems suspicious that he runs across so many wild snakes that are more docile than the long-time captives I deal with.

Sort of like the anaconda show where he's supposedly struggling with the big anaconda but you can see him holding the snake onto himself like an old tarzan movie. (Hint: Has anyone ever seen a large, wild anaconda without a single scar on it?)

Personally I thought it was worth sitting through his show just for some VERY cool snakes, but I would enjoy it a lot better without all the "acting". Of course there aren't enough of me to constitute a viable audience, so they have to make it appeal to the average person and I can understand that.

Note: This is just my feeling from watching the show. I have inside info or hard facts to go on.

>>I know they aren't the biggest strikers, but I just can't imagine jumping into a river to catch a wild gaboon viper and then just picking it up.

Yeah, I just sat there with my mouth hanging open when he jumped in there. Completely aside from the getting bitten factor, the snake was in a little pond, heading for one side. Go over there and wait for it. Duh!
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Larry D. Fishel
Side effects may include paralysis
and death but are generally mild.

I agree that the behavior described is horrendously stupid, irresponsible and probably needlessly stressful for the animals.

In my experience, adult wild caught animals of many venomous snake species are genuinely calmer during human interaction than many captive raised individuals. A number of the captive raised snakes in my collection (I can think specifically of a boomslang, a mamba, a rattlesnake and several cottonmouths who give me heck every time a cage is opened) are far more dangerous to handle than other of the same species which were wild caught as adults. They have absolutely no fear of humans and are likely to aggressively pursue towards any motion I make, probably because they know I bring dinner. Almost all of the adult wild caught animals I have handled of the same species are much calmer and far easier to handle than these spoiled little CB brats.

This isn't to say that the animals on the show were not adult wild caught a few years prior, held in somebody's collections as captives and brought to the set of this show. I don't know. That certainly is a fairly standard technique when filming such shows.

When I want to determine whether an animal is wild or captive, I look at the body morphology. Seasonal feeders tend to develop a subtly triangular shape; captive raised animals that never miss a meal year round tend to have backs flat enough to balance a tea tray, and their profile could best be described as square or rectangular. Behavior isn't always a great indicator.

Other than the fact that my captive born animals are flawless in appearance, they could much more easily pass for "wild" in terms of their behavior than 90% of the adult wild caught animals I've handled. At least, they could pass for what most people think of as typical "wild snake" behavior - they are actually willing to approach a human voluntarily and aggressively because of their conditioned feeding response. Wild snakes are very unlikely to do this, but I can pretty much guarantee that type of genuinely aggressive response from one of my captive bred animals at feeding time.

That show is all about ratings and nothing about education. The only reason that I stuck with it was to look at that beautiful king, but this little idiot guy kept getting in the way when I was trying to look at it! My first thoughts were "this guy is an idiot" and "I wonder who they are going to host the show with when he gets killed". That is a great show to tell you HOW NOT TO HANDLE SNAKES. I was relieved to see Mark O'shea is back on and doing well. His show was on shortly after that. Now if you want an educational show with a host that cares more about the resource than the ratings, Mark is your guy to watch.
Kevin