Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Arent yall tired of hearing all these things about burms being so bad!?!? Well i got a call from the 6 o clock news in my area about my burms...aparently my naboor had told them i had them, and he had also told them that they are human eaters. Soooo they are coming to do a peice on me and my burms.... i plan on making sure that i tell them "Burmese pythons do have the capacity of getting huge, and yes aggresive, but under the proper care of someone with the right knowlege they can be a very nice, and beatiful pet" sound good?? any ideas? and anyone want their name menchioned? lol

i also plan on showing them how many people love them, besides me. So if anyone wants to show there spirit, send me some pics with you and ur burms.

I direct a wildife center and I have been interviewed hundred of times from various angles of "dangerous wildlife". Much of the information to the media is utterly bogus. First, there are NO recorded accounts of a burm ingesting a human. Fatalities? Yes, however, they are FEW AND FAR between when you look at the literally tens of thousands that are currently kept as pets (just in the U.S. alone). WHen you compare these stats with the number of fatalities regarding dogs, there is NO comparison; dogs account for a far higher percentage of human fatalities. If kept responsibly, like any animal, there should be no concerns. But, unfortunately, for every good and responsible owner there are just as many irresponsible owners....funny thing is, even with the many irresponsible owners, there are few recorded fatalities which shows that burmese pythons are VERY SLOW TO BITE their owners. Please feel free to pass my name on should they want some stats.

Rob Carmichael, Director/Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
City of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation
400 Hastings Road
Lake Forest, IL 60045
847-615-4388

Yes, it is a VERY good idea to attach ANY valid credibility to a media piece. Very very good, indeed.

And to the original poster,..... be very careful with media folk. They are NOT to be trusted. By this I mean,.. try to be unbiased, yes,.. but be very selective with what you say about any dangers concerning burmese or other pythons. Media people have a tendency to ignore positive facts and only focus on negative facts to make it more "Shock value" appealing. I have been interviewed a number of times and have gone to watch the news only to find out that only the scary things concerning exotic reptiles was left. Anything else I had said remained on the cutting room floor. Very very rarely have I ever delt with media and it resulted in an un-biased, information piece. In fact,....... never actually. There has always been some level of 'leaning toward the shock content' aspect of it. And the reporters will cleverly try to steer you into these areas too. So try to focus on the good things. Leave the rest to Rob.

>>I direct a wildife center and I have been interviewed hundred of times from various angles of "dangerous wildlife". Much of the information to the media is utterly bogus. First, there are NO recorded accounts of a burm ingesting a human. Fatalities? Yes, however, they are FEW AND FAR between when you look at the literally tens of thousands that are currently kept as pets (just in the U.S. alone). WHen you compare these stats with the number of fatalities regarding dogs, there is NO comparison; dogs account for a far higher percentage of human fatalities. If kept responsibly, like any animal, there should be no concerns. But, unfortunately, for every good and responsible owner there are just as many irresponsible owners....funny thing is, even with the many irresponsible owners, there are few recorded fatalities which shows that burmese pythons are VERY SLOW TO BITE their owners. Please feel free to pass my name on should they want some stats.
>>
>>Rob Carmichael, Director/Curator
>>The Wildlife Discovery Center
>>City of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation
>>400 Hastings Road
>>Lake Forest, IL 60045
>>847-615-4388
-----
It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Sytstems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]

thnxs so much u guys, they are coming over tomorrow. ILL TEACH EM GOOD!! lol thnx again Shawn

No way I'd do the interview -- you have nothing to gain and everything to lose. They only angle any local news show would be interested in is "look at the weido who keeps the scary snakes" and anything you say will be twisted or edited to fit that mold.

I live in the uk and havent herd of any one being eaten here. Has there ever been anyone eaten over there if not then there not man eaters. And anyone who says they are is liying.

I have been wrapped a number of times between 1977 and 1990, but it hasn't happened since then because I don't take as many dumb chances anymore. But each and every time I was wrapped by a python it was the result of something incredibly stupid that I did. So to every novice herper,.. please be careful and never take any unnecessary risks.

>>I live in the uk and havent herd of any one being eaten here. Has there ever been anyone eaten over there if not then there not man eaters. And anyone who says they are is liying.
-----
It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]

So it wasn't the snake being a man eater but the keeper that was at fault.

You only need to be distracted for a second and in a minute it might all be over!(me)

Yes. Entirely my fault or lack of experience at that particular time that led to those incidents. Never once have I ever seen any evidence of a boid showing ANY interest in a human for food or sustenance. And I don't ever expect to.

>>So it wasn't the snake being a man eater but the keeper that was at fault.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>You only need to be distracted for a second and in a minute it might all be over!(me)
-----
It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]