Reptile & Amphibian Forums

National Geo just ran the program on "natures nightmares" what a great light to show snakes in Nat Geo! I will be canceling my subscription (getting tired of all the advertising anyways) This show is obviously poised at making the private keepers of venomous, and nonvenomous alike, look like fools. We went through it already but now that Ive seen it with my own eyes I cannot believe it. With respect to their accomplishments in the hobby, how can they be so naive to say that it is "safer to have a gun in ones house than a venomous snake". Look at the numbers Mr. Harrison(s) more children are killed, maimed, or wounded by firearms in the household per year than were killed by venomous reptiles in the past CENTURY. It is sad that such a widely viewed forum such as Nat Geo was used for this dribble. And by the way, what reason was there for pinning every snake shown on the program, it seems that most "professionals" know that there is NO REASON to pin a snake unless medical treatment or milking requires it.
I saw nothing but showmanship and the adrenal rush of being on t.v., nothing educational about this program except I now know first hand why there was such an outburst about the show. I cant understand why someone who professes support for private keepers would make such generalized, misinformed, statements that make everyone but themselves look like incompetent fools.
The Indiana Jones hat was a great touch, although I suspect it was a knockoff and not a real Pendleton.
Cheers
B

My satellite package does not include the NG channel. Looks like I'm not missing much. I scream at the teevee enough already.

~~Greg~~

Now Greg, put that remote down, and slowly walk away from the TV!
Everything will be okay.
Randal

.

LOL, thats funny! I came at my set with a fish billy once but the wife intercepted me first.
I was REALLY dissapointed by the whole thing, the whole show made snakes out to be dangerous (in one fashion or another), a fringe element hobby composed of nitwits, goofballs, and apathetic types who would "place children and whole communities in great danger".
Truly sad, and quite a damaging blow, you can bet the footage will be used as support for bans, after all, it was made my Nat Geo who uses the most authoritative people in the field.
Ciao
B

Well,

I can't really say that I believe that I have seen this particular show once before a while back (I think around Halloween). I really dont know what to think about Jim Harrison. I am not sure whether he really cares about this hobby or not. But if you really think that a TV show really cares about these animals, you are sadly mistaken. They care about their ratings. Bull**** that they show on TV gets them their ratings. Nat. Geo. could care less about the private keepers other than zoos. Animal planet digs us into the ground even further with their MULTIPLE......oh so popular animal "cops" houston, miami, detroit,etc. in which constantly put us under the heat lamp. TV is seriously our worst enemy. It appears that Animal Planet is too busy kissing Peta's &$$es. OH well, once again our hobby is doomed, might as well hand over our animal's now and save ourselves the grief!

Ok, now that my rant is over.

Anybody have any exciting news in the herp world????

chris

>>National Geo just ran the program on "natures nightmares" what a great light to show snakes in Nat Geo! I will be canceling my subscription (getting tired of all the advertising anyways) This show is obviously poised at making the private keepers of venomous, and nonvenomous alike, look like fools. We went through it already but now that Ive seen it with my own eyes I cannot believe it. With respect to their accomplishments in the hobby, how can they be so naive to say that it is "safer to have a gun in ones house than a venomous snake". Look at the numbers Mr. Harrison(s) more children are killed, maimed, or wounded by firearms in the household per year than were killed by venomous reptiles in the past CENTURY. It is sad that such a widely viewed forum such as Nat Geo was used for this dribble. And by the way, what reason was there for pinning every snake shown on the program, it seems that most "professionals" know that there is NO REASON to pin a snake unless medical treatment or milking requires it.
>>I saw nothing but showmanship and the adrenal rush of being on t.v., nothing educational about this program except I now know first hand why there was such an outburst about the show. I cant understand why someone who professes support for private keepers would make such generalized, misinformed, statements that make everyone but themselves look like incompetent fools.
>>The Indiana Jones hat was a great touch, although I suspect it was a knockoff and not a real Pendleton.
>>Cheers
>>B

"Reptile Rulers" come on National Geographic tonight at 9:00ET

Just thought I would let you Nat. Geo fans know!!

I can't believe that Jim Harrison is responsible for the banning of ALL venomous reptiles in all but the giants of zoo's.
I would have to say his ego must be enormous to have singlehandedly out banned all the non antivenom keeping, keeping in aquariums, not even knowing what snake it is, nor the antivenom to use, nor the religious zealots, rattlesnake roundups, venomoiders, free handlers, self stickers, illegal shippers, under age buyers, dealers in reptiles, smugglers, anti-americans, x-filers, and all around irresponsible people in this fly by night hobby of yours...
Shame on you Jim. You certainly should have said that all idiots should be able to fly an airplane without any training whatsoever! Maybe air travel would be banned now!

All but 1-2 percent of the people in these forums should view venomous snakes only in books and behind other peoples glass.
I didn't think quite that way until just recently when all the idiotic blaming and pointing of fingers came about.

You 1-2 percent know who you are and you have my sympathy and my support....too bad there wasn't a way to rid the 'hobby' of the other 98-99 percent of the keepers.

Oh wait, here comes Jim H. the nicest, most supportive, intelligent, experienced and knowledgable person any of you know and you bash him without understanding pig squirts of how the world views you... maybe he can single-handedly leap tall buildings, stop moving trains and make it illegal to buy snake hooks now....

err wait....maybe it's YOUR fault venomous snakes are being banned....hmm sounds a heck of a lot easier to to believe than all this crap!

Terry

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It's what you learn AFTER you know it all that counts!

Terry Phillip
Curator of Reptiles
Black Hills Reptile Gardens
Rapid City, SD.

www.reptilegardens.com

>>I would have to say his ego must be enormous to have singlehandedly out banned all the non antivenom keeping, keeping in aquariums, not even knowing what snake it is, nor the antivenom to use, nor the religious zealots, rattlesnake roundups, venomoiders, free handlers, self stickers, illegal shippers, under age buyers, dealers in reptiles, smugglers, anti-americans, x-filers, and all around irresponsible people in this fly by night hobby of yours...
...
>>All but 1-2 percent of the people in these forums should view venomous snakes only in books and behind other peoples glass.

I won't comment on Mr. Harrison right now (assume you've already read his letter), but YOU seem to have missed a significant point here. The responsible people will be most of the ones effeced by the ban! Most of the rest are already breaking the law...

Actually, I will say one thing about Mr. Harrison in case noone's pointed it out for the original poster yet. Unlike most of the people on the snake related shows, Mr. Harrison runs a venom extraction program, and I don't remember seeing him pin a snake that he didn't milk on that show.

I've also seen him pin a green mamba without a pinning tool and drive a truck (barefoot) while holding a mojave rattlesnake by the head. What's the deal with that? I also heard him say that a black mamba could kill 200 people if loose. Seems to me like he just craves the attention and wants to add more sensationalism to his already appealing line of work. It also seems to me like it would be better and more profitable for him if the private sector ( which he also buys his snakes from at a cheap price rather than go through all the hassle of importing, did I mention that? ) wasn't allowed to keep venomous snakes. The hobby is doomed no matter what, it's just sad that there are people in here that are MORE knowledgable than Jim Harrison that, at some point, may not be able to keep snakes privately because of more future legislation.

I would have to say his ego must be enormous to have singlehandedly out banned all the non antivenom keeping, keeping in aquariums, not even knowing what snake it is, nor the antivenom to use, nor the religious zealots, rattlesnake roundups, venomoiders, free handlers, self stickers, illegal shippers, under age buyers, dealers in reptiles, smugglers, anti-americans, x-filers, and all around irresponsible people in this fly by night hobby of yours...

I agree those are some bad eggs in the basket LOL!

All but 1-2 percent of the people in these forums should view venomous snakes only in books and behind other peoples glass.
I didn't think quite that way until just recently when all the idiotic blaming and pointing of fingers came about.

Probably true, I know I can provide the credentials to be part of that 1-2 percent as well but I still think the show was quite a blow to the ENTIRE topic of keeping any venomous, and some nonvenomous, reptiles by the private sector (e.g. people outside of the zoo/exotic animal park industry)and there are a number of folks within THOSE institutions that will fall outside of that 1-2 percent window (pers obs).

You 1-2 percent know who you are and you have my sympathy and my support....too bad there wasn't a way to rid the 'hobby' of the other 98-99 percent of the keepers.

I dont want to defend the nitwits that ARE in this field/hobby (I dont view this as a hobby, its alittle more complex than that IMO)but everyone has to start somewhere dont they? If we dissuade interest in 98-99 percent of people interested in working with this form of wildlife do we not limit the "new blood" that will carry on the work of those that came before? Its really not that hard to figure out who the bad eggs are and lose them.
Last time I checked we all had a finite time on this rock so we need to ENCOURAGE education not make everyone fear snakes and the "wilderness" that they inhabit. It kills me to see how very little efforts are directed at educating young people about the environment and its importance to our/their future.

err wait....maybe it's YOUR fault venomous snakes are being banned....hmm sounds a heck of a lot easier to to believe than all this crap!

LOL, I doubt it but like I tell my boss "just blame me, its easier".
Honestly I believe that a great number of "serious keepers" private and professional (old and new generations alike) are doing this because we share a common passion for nature and all that it encompasses, we recognize that this is our time, it will be our only chance to experience what we are so rapidly losing on this planet-the good and beautiful things that we share it with.

Peace
B

Saw that show before. National Geographic has finally entered the "tabliod" mentality. Pure garbage and sensationalism.

FRank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."