Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How do people feel about this person. I have seen a couple of shows with him and all were poorly staged and had misinformation.
Now he has a series on AP and was on Letterman last night.
What are your opinions on his shows? Am I missing something?

Kristen Wiley

My favorite episode was when he got tagged by both a Cerastes cerastes (I think that's what it was, don't remember) AND an N. haje...sure the episode was supposedly taped over the course of a few months, but that was just hilarious...serves the fool right for thinking he can treat them like corn snakes.

And you are right, he stages the scenes horribly...after the haje bit him, he was rushed off to the hospital and came back 4 hours later to the same spot to photograph the cobra! Yeah right! That just about made me fall over...

Oh, and when he supposedly found a E.African gaboon in W. Africa! LOL!

Kristen:

Psilocybe is more or less correct. I reviewed the tape. He almost took a hit from a Bitis peringueyi just missed him by a hair. A Snouted cobra (Naja annulifera) nailed him soundly but somehow he lucked out in this case too. He did not get any venom, suprizingly enough. He was in East Africa swinging throuh the trees dropping into a swamp comming out with a large West African Gaboon.

He is the worst thing to happen to herpetology on TV ever. Steve Irwin is very safe compared to this turkey. Irwin is a very positive influence on how the public feels about reptiles. Austin is just a "grand stander" I won't be watching this series for sure.

Phobos,

I only saw that episode once and it was a number of months ago...didn't quite remember what he got tagged by, though I was pretty sure it was a haje instead of an annulifera, but you saw the tape recently, so I'll take your word for it...I couldn't remember at all what the other one was, so I just said C. cerastes...

In any case, this guy is a fool.

Hey when a guy says he guarantees hes not going to be bitten then 5 minutes later gets bit by a peringueys adder (bitis peringueyi) thats quality entertainment. Let us not forget the look of suprise on his face from being cobra bit (Cobras Bite?!?!?). this is a sure block buster sitcom, it is a comedy isnt it? If not they picked the wrong guy. By the way this arse done a snake sit in some years back he was in a glass cage with cobras mambas and puff adders he stayed in there a month and broke a record he was actually bitten by a haje in the room but they treated the bite inside (lets keep this man away from egyptian cobra huh?) That tid bit of information is on the nat geo special Africas deadly dozen,
Have fun kiddies (Hey Kristen and Jim)
Douglas L Williams

But it is still representing misunderstood animals (by many) as nasty killing machines. There are only a couple herpitoligists that actually know how to handle the animals intelligently without injuring the snake or themselves. IMO snakes should be left in documentaries, not "action" herping TV shows.

When he was sitting in the tank with the snakes, he did demonstrate that snakes aren't "aggressive" but defensive instead, and that without him harassing them they wouldn't bother him.
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Current Collection:
0.1 Antherystic elaphe guttata guttata - Corn Snake
1.0 Elaphe vulpina gloydi - Eastern Fox Snake
0.1 Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta - Black Rat Snake
0.1 Leucistic elaphe obsoleta linheimeri - Texas Ratsnake
1.1 Morelia spilota cheyni - Jungle Carpet Python
0.1 Tiliqua scincoides intermedia - Northern Blue Tongue Skink

I just hope that he don't send the wrong message to young kids that want to get into this field.~~~J.Fish

First of all venomous snakes dont belong in the hands of an amueture, this man obviously has little experience in keeping or collecting venomous reptiles, my reasoning for this is, first of all, anyone who has experience with these animals knows that when handled corectly there isnt any jumping around strike dodging or any other dancing movements. I have kept a few venomous snakes, (still do actually) and never once have i ever tried to touch a cobra on top of the head, nor have i danced around the room with it screaming jumping and dodging, I do it like i was shown quickly with no unnessasary contact. I have watched a friend milk king cobras without first dancing around them ( i believe the dancing calms the snake).
Anyway this is a bad thing, people are going to see this guy get bit, see him misinterperet information, and make people think we all handle our animals like that.
When I was volunteering at the KRZ (kentucky reptile zoo) one of the most common AND annyoing ( but in retrospect valid because its what people see.) was this question. "Do you all handle your snakes like the Steve Irwin does" at that point i had to explain Steve was fake and just TV, no one of course wanted to believe this, but is this really how we want people to view us?

People see croc hunter and they try to do what Steve does, and they get bit in the process. When they watch this nut, they see him get bit, and they wont try to do what he does.

>>How do people feel about this person. I have seen a couple of shows with him and all were poorly staged and had misinformation.
>>Now he has a series on AP and was on Letterman last night.
>>What are your opinions on his shows? Am I missing something?
>>
>>Kristen Wiley

Eh, I was pretty disappointed with his shows. All shock and little to no value.
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My collection and herp photography

www.lowergroundreptiles.net

Well, let's see, first the n. kaouthia he brought out on letterman was a venomoid (those scars on the head were just ridiculously huge), and it was even better when he was swinging the adamanteus around holding it by its tail... and it was a pretty fat adamanteus.
see, what gets to me is that fools like him and all these yokels i meet that freehandle their gaboons and rattlers and whatnots rarely ever get bit. yet if i let my guard down for just one second, i get tagged. and i have hooks! and tongs!
life really ain't fair.

Anton
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Pozdrav,
Anton T.
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Thank you Sir, may I have another?

I watched the late night exhibition with a very close eye, and I would say that there was visible scarring on each side of monocles head that would suggest that the snake might not be as dangerous as it would be if you came across a specimen in the wild. I don't know if it is possible to get a zoomed in look at the snake in still frame, but it would definately be a very interesting and informational experience if we could all get a glance. I know that certain other animal personalities/entertainers that appear on the Tonight show and the Late night show use specimens missing certain organs. Very curious....

I tell people to think of the life insurance that TV companies have on their stars. There is no way an insurance carrier would allow them on the same stage as an animal that had not been altered (venomiod). That is without saying the possible danger to audience members. Lawsuits would be filed if a person in the audience got bitten. Its all show and Austin Stevens appears to be one of the worst.

Jim Harrison