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Pet Python Kills Man in Indiana

Chris Olson

Chris Olson

Evolved from Eukaryotes
I get really sick of this. It is just me, or does nearly every reputable piece of literature regarding the keeping and handling of large snakes insist that more than one person be present while handling any snake over 8'? Idiots like this are fuel for legislation! Message to boid keepers......get it together.

Story

Chris
 
"Message to boid keepers......get it together."

Please dont generalise.. just because you read several stories a year of people dying due to lack of knoledge of there pet does NOT mean the other thousands of keepers "dont have it together"

Anyways.. i guess he Learned his lesson the hard way... for every person that dies.. hundreds are saved (so to speak) some people learn from OTHERS mistakes.
 
RyanR said:
"Message to boid keepers......get it together."

Please dont generalise.. just because you read several stories a year of people dying due to lack of knoledge of there pet does NOT mean the other thousands of keepers "dont have it together"

Anyways.. i guess he Learned his lesson the hard way... for every person that dies.. hundreds are saved (so to speak) some people learn from OTHERS mistakes.
Click to expand...

Ryan,
I have dozens of boids. I will generalize because it is a problem that is general in the hobby. There is virtually no self policing in the hobby.....which leaves the government and anti-reptile lobbies to do the policing for us. It's time for responsible keepers to actively voice their grievances with irresponsible keepers, and not sell to them when their irresponsibility is evident. And believe me....it takes a very short conversation to figure that out.

Chris
 
sorry chris.. i origanaly took it the wrong way... Not to diss corns..(since i have several) but i ~thought ~ you didnt own any boids and were "down talking" all boid keepers..

but your point is valid... i honestly think there should be licences to have big constrictors.. they should be only available to keepers with some expererience and you should have to proof you can care for the snake for its WHOLE life.
 
Those who keep large snakes who do do it resposnisbly shouldnt take offence by that because they all should know how serious it is. Not only should people be more responsible about the irresponsible, but those who dont own the big snakes should help out instead of putting us down for being too straight-foreward and mean, which does happen occasionally. It is not just the boid keepers responsibility, it is everyone in the hobby because when bans start happening it will fall like dominoes; and they will fall if no one does anything about it.
 
DaemoNox said:
Those who keep large snakes who do do it resposnisbly shouldnt take offence by that because they all should know how serious it is. Not only should people be more responsible about the irresponsible, but those who dont own the big snakes should help out instead of putting us down for being too straight-foreward and mean, which does happen occasionally. It is not just the boid keepers responsibility, it is everyone in the hobby because when bans start happening it will fall like dominoes; and they will fall if no one does anything about it.
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I agree. And we wouldn't be talking about a new bill trying to get passed every week if people would stop throwing logs on the fire. I would love to see this thread explode.....agree or disagree, this should be the most pressing issue in our hobby/business.

Chris
 
What was he, 23 years old? There was no excuse for him handling a snake that big on his own. Heck, my 11 year old daughter knows not to do that. He probably would have died in an idiot-related accident if the snake hadn't have gotten him.

There is always some idiot spoiling things for everyone else.
There are tons of laws, and tons of dumb bunnies doing what they want anyway. I strongly believe there should be anti-cruelty laws, and laws in which owners of known vicious dogs are held responsible for their dogs being confined, laws about not releasing large dangerous reptiles in lakes, and the like. I detest stupid laws like not being able to own non-dangerous, non-endangered, regular pets. I'm temping for a city right now, and in their city ordinances they have a list of animals you can't have here, which is fine. They do list "colubrids" though, and then list dangerous snakes after that without distinguishing between what is and isn't dangerous. Thats just silly. A community certainly has a right to exclude animals which they consider dangerous, but other common (non-exotic/endangered) pets as well?
It shouldn't be thier business, as long as your not hurting yourself, anyone else, or anything in regards to the animals. Just my 2 cents.
 
It needs to be the biggest issue, everyone in the hobby no matter what species they have will be affected by it. First the venomous and large snakes and lizards will be banned, which then opens the doors for everything else to be under considertion. What we need to do is reach out to the pubic and educate them, we are doing that here on these forums, however most of the time its members comming here, and not the ones we really need to talk to.
 
Unfortunatly I dont think the government would be up to funding any regularory laws like licencing or permits when the majority of the population isnt fond of the animals and when banning them outright could be cheaper.
 
Idiots like this are fuel for legislation!
Click to expand...

If people want to believe snakes are evil killers, they will do so regardless of how many horror stories pop up in the news.
 
But the horror stories fuel their hatred. If you hate something wouldnt you hate it even more if all you heard about it was bad? Some people dont even get the chance to see how the animals really are, and a lot of people really are suprised about it when they touch one the first time in their lives.
 
DaemoNox said:
Unfortunatly I dont think the government would be up to funding any regularory laws like licencing or permits when the majority of the population isnt fond of the animals and when banning them outright could be cheaper.
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I could give a rats rear-end what the government is up to funding :) . They will fund what they are told to fund if they are told by enough people. It's only cheaper for them if it is met with out resistance.

Chris
 
well how do you guys plan on doing this? anyone got any idias?

obviously i cant do alot since 1) im only 17 and 2) im canadian.. and well Herpers have an even smaller "fan base" up here... but.. i guess anything can help.
 
Responsible keeping of large boids is something that really needs to be promoted. I meet so many people who make comments like, "it's not gonna happen to me, I know what I'm doing" etc.

As far as anti-reptile legislation though, here in the UK at least a much bigger problem is animal rights activists lobbying the government. They're less "reptiles are a danger to people" and much more "people are a danger to reptiles". Recently there was a public consultation on new laws to restrict the ownership and breeding on CITES listed animals, but so far it's unclear what the government has decided. It's really worrying, because it seems that every month there's a new hoo-hah about laws regarding welfare or whatever, it's difficult to know what's going on.

I'm sure stories like this will be seized upon by activists as further propaganda for their cause. It seems to me that they are a lot more organised, and have a lot more influence than the herp enthusiasts. I guess that's only natural though - afterall animal rights activists share a common ideology, have millions of pounds in donations and have large organisations with celebrity endorsements. We're just a bunch of people with weird pets. :shrugs:
 
Nothing is more disturbing then reading of someone's sheer stupidity. The media doesn't help, because the media loves the dark, disturbing stories more so then the fuzzy happy stories. Educating the masses would help - but there are many people out there who don't 'want' to be educated because they fear reptiles in some way, shape, or form.

Stupidity and a lack of common sense kills more people in a wide range of accidents involving a wide range of animals or machinery. It is sad that the guy in the article was killed by the snake - don't get me wrong, I feel for his family - but he made the decision to treat that snake alone. Why blame the responsible owners & breeders because one fool thought himself above taking the proper precautions?

Just so frustraiting and well, stupid.

Sorry if I sound a bit bitter, but it's too early in the morning for me.

Jenn
 
DaemoNox said:
But the horror stories fuel their hatred. If you hate something wouldnt you hate it even more if all you heard about it was bad? Some people dont even get the chance to see how the animals really are, and a lot of people really are suprised about it when they touch one the first time in their lives.
Click to expand...

Sure, and I'm not denying that, but if people want to hate snakes they will do so. Their prejudice won't stop because the stories have, because if they wanted to forgive and respect serpents they would not make generalisations about all snakes from an occasional tragedy, yet they do.

I don't remember ever seeing a story about someone killed by their pet spider, but people still hate those, possibly even more so than snakes.
 
Plissken said:
Sure, and I'm not denying that, but if people want to hate snakes they will do so. Their prejudice won't stop because the stories have, because if they wanted to forgive and respect serpents they would not make generalisations about all snakes from an occasional tragedy, yet they do.

I don't remember ever seeing a story about someone killed by their pet spider, but people still hate those, possibly even more so than snakes.
Click to expand...

No one is trying to slap legislation on spider keepers....that I know of. I don't mean any disrespect but I don't see the correlation.

Chris
 
Spiders just dont pose the same threat as reptiles do, but they and the rest of the inverts too are walking a thin like, all it will take is a couple articles in the news of children being stung by escaped pet scorpians.

Its true that most people would hate snakes even without whats put in the news, but when things like this happen people have an actual reason to push for laws; people dont care if someone else is afraid of them, but they do care when other people are getting hurt and killed. Those who make generalizations often never had the chance to really see snakes in a good manner up close so the thought of forgiving them never even crosses their mind, which is why everyone needs to do their part in helping to educate people about them or else nothing will change. Age and location does not matter, I often see many young kids with their parents doing hands-on shows, and when people see these young kids safely and calmly handle what they are afraid of it really gives them a whole new perspective on it. A lot of these adults will watch their kids come up and calmly pet the snakes, suddenly realising that there is really nothing to be afraid of especially when the handler has the head safely away from the part being pet. I always tell people that they dont have to like then, just dont hate them.
 
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