Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm sure it is a repeat but did anyone else see Austin Stevens (Snakemaster) get bit by a sidewinder and cobra on tonight's episode? (I can't believe I haven't seen him get bit before the way he plays with them.) I guess he sets a bad example but I must admit he is the most entertaining to watch between himself, O'Shea, Steve Erwin and Jeff Corwin. (Unless you count Corwin's annoying drama queen antics as entertaining.) But how about the one where Erwin lets an Inland Taipan kiss him on the face. That was classic...

Hi:

Sidewinder is a generic term for a SW USA desert rattlesnake (C. cerastes) and also a means of locomotion for some desert dwelling snakes.

Steve was almost tagged by a Bitis peringueyi (Peringuey's Adder)to be more precise.

Al
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Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints.

Yeah but they've all been bitten, only Irwin says he has never been bitten by a venomous snake. Funny considering they have a highlight on one of his blooper shows showing him getting bit on the lip by a taipan he mis-identified. I guess taipans aren't venomous to Australians.
When you handle hots as much as these guys do, getting tagged comes with the territory. I do admit though, some of their handling, or wrangling techniques for lack of a better word, is somewhat careless. I also admit that I'm envious of every one of them.

I heard that he took a dry bite from a rattlesnake of some kind before. Was the taipan bite a dry one as well? I'd be curious to see that...
Will

That man makes me crazy. His show is so contrived and ridiculous to believe that it is real. I get so tired of him searching for something for months on end and then amazingly when it is only hours until he has to leave he finds the most amazing specimen he has ever seen. What the crew didn't let the snake out of the bag until that day? I watch because he does show some beautiful reptiles but I hate the way the entire show is set up. Give me Dr. Brady Barr on a crocodile search over this Stevens "drama master" any day.

It's pretty obvious that Austin Stevens stages his catches. The camera angles, how he always finds one "just in the nick of time," the whole bit. It's a pretty ridiculous show, but I find myself watching him whenever he's on. He does look for some interesting snakes. The one last night when he caught the Gaboon viper had to be staged. There it was, swimming in the river, right next to a nice sturdy vine that just happened to be strong enough to swing Austin into the river. He also conspicuously did not have his camera or other equipment in his hands at that precise moment. Had to be staged.

I like Corwin because he once freaked out in front of a king cobra. He wanted to handle it, but he wouldn't do it. And he admitted it to the camera. I thought that was brutally honest on his part. Made him seem more real and less theatrical.

I think all of them stage their catches at one point or another. That's not to say they do it all the time. But I believe they do it some.

So Steve-O got bitten by a taipan? I would think a taipan bite to the lip would have been a very, very, very serious matter. I've always found it hard to believe that he's never been bitten by a venomous snake. He's just too careless. And Austin's too much of a moron to avoid getting bitten.

RP

I agree about the camera angles, how would they know to have 2 different angles ready at the same moment he swings on that vine and grabs the gaboon? You don't think he would stoop as far as having venomoids on hand for scenes do you?

I wouldn't put it past him -- or any of the others -- to use venomoids. But that Gaboon looked pretty good, and they showed a nice close shot of her head. I would imagine if these guys ever use venomoids, they wouldn't show the head unless the surgery was perfect and there was no scarring. But then again, the average viewer wouldn't know what the scars were. Austin (or whomever) could simply say the scars were from some kind of accident that happened when the snake was young or something like that, and most people tuning in would never know the difference.

Reminds me of an episode of "Murder, She Wrote" many years ago. My mom used to watch that show, and I would sometimes watch it with her. Well, on this one episode, somebody used a black mamba to kill another person. The murderer removed the snake from a zoo, took it to the person's house, released it, then caught it again after it bit the person and took it back to the zoo. When they showed the snake in the zoo, it was just as black as it could be. I think I remember it being an indigo. At any rate, it was obviously not a mamba. But the most people watching that show -- including my mom -- had no idea. It's a black mamba, which means it must be black, right? Maybe Austin Stevens consulted the show's producers about what kind of snake to use!

RP