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More details on venom snake at WM
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by tigers9 on March 28, 2008
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http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/middlepeninsula/dp-local_glosnakes_0328mar28,0,7274865.story
Caller reports deadly snake missing
Police say they hope someone finds the snake. But call officials — don't try to catch it.
By NICOLAS ZIMMERMAN
247-4760
March 28, 2008
GLOUCESTER
— A man calling himself "sort of a reptile lover" sparked an areawide snake hunt Thursday, after he called a police tip line to report a deadly pit viper missing from his car.
The man, who didn't identify himself, told police he had been shopping at the Wal-Mart Supercenter when a box containing the highly venomous fer-de-lance was taken from his car. He didn't identify himself, and Gloucester sheriff's investigators have been unable to locate the snake or corroborate the caller's story.
"He said, 'Hey, I'm not going to identify myself because I'm probably not supposed to have this snake, but I'm sort of a reptile lover,'" Gloucester Sheriff's Maj. Darrell Warren said.
The call was placed to the Gloucester Sheriff's Office Crime Line, which promises anonymity and is therefore an untraceable phone line, said Maj. Tim Doss, Gloucester chief deputy.
State law doesn't prohibit keeping venomous snakes, said Julia Dixon, a spokeswoman for Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. All that's needed is a permit from the local animal control officer.
The fer-de-lance is a type of pit viper, native to South and Central America, known for its aggressiveness and the potency of its venom, Michael Wauhop said. He's a former herpetologist at the Virginia Zoo who now runs ZooPro Wildlife Removal in Virginia Beach.
"The fer-de-lance causes more deaths in South and Central America than any other snake, and the reason it does that is it's an ambush predator," he said. "If it's true, they've got a problem."
The brown or olive-colored snake has geometric shapes on its back and is usually between 4 and 6 feet long, he said.
If the snake escaped in the parking lot, Wauhop said, it likely would retreat to a shady area off the pavement to escape the heat. If somebody sees it, he said, "they need to get the hell away."
Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News keeps only antivenins for bites from Virginia's three native poisonous snakes, hospital spokesman Peter Glagola said. If someone was admitted to a Riverside hospital with a bite from a fer-de-lance, the hospital would need to have the antivenin shipped from a poison control center in South Florida — which would take about four hours, he said.
Police are asking anyone with information about the snake's whereabouts to call Gloucester's anonymous Crime Line at 804-693-COPS or the sheriff's office at 804-693-3890. They're offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to the snake's recovery.
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RE: More details on venom snake at WM
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by viandy on March 28, 2008
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More non-facts, the sort of "report" that urban myths are made of. Almost sounds like something that should be on snopes.
It also reinforces my belief that you shouldn't talk to the media. The person is quoted as saying the reason the bothrops kills so many people is "that is it's an ambush predator". He may have said that, but even if he did I bet it was out of context. He may have used those words, but I don't believe that's what he meant.
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RE: More details on venom snake at WM
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by Cro on March 28, 2008
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viandy, you are so right. No one in the venomous community should talk with the press........
Just look how they distorted what Karl said about Timber Rattlesnakes verses Canebrake Rattlesnakes, when they printed the article about the gym teacher who found an rattlesnake in his suit case, and was bitten by it.................
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: More details on venom snake at WM
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by rthom on March 28, 2008
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well if it's a prank I hope the "joker" goes to jail for false reports and other violations of the law. If it's real??
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RE: More details on venom snake at WM
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by Buzztail1 on March 29, 2008
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This is a win-win situation for API/HSUS/etc.
They can correctly claim that the report was made.
They can correctly report that the snake reported is extremely deadly.
They can correctly report that police never found the snake so it may still be out there.
They can correctly report on how irresponsible it is for a person to leave such an animal in their car at Wal-Mart.
And - - - They can get away with making a false anonymous tip which will never be traced back to them.
How could they not take advantage of such a wonderful boost to their cause!
I am skeptical of the report, to say the very least.
Just my opinion.
R/
Karl
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RE: More details on venom snake at WM
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by tigers9 on March 29, 2008
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AR are getting' smarter' , it is easier to make false sighting report (how do u prove negative), than have actual animals dumped, also they have been doing reptiles dumpings, many dead, as that is also easier than live tiger cub who gets noisy.
Anyway, below is letter to editor I wrote, had published last fall 2007 when same thing happened here, fake anonymous tiger at large report at night, female caller at 1AM and again 5AM claimed it was orange with stripes, but report area is dark country road, so harder to see colors at night, no street lights, no caller name,(well near school bus depot, orange/black stripes ;-) ...
media here is good so they didn't fall for it, but police still had to investigate, and investigation showed no tiger hair or no tiger prints in sandy dusty NV desert, so it is easier to fake report snake/box missing, since that leaves no hair or prints in dirt to look for and therefore prove the call was a prank..
To this day when I shop in WalMart for tiger food, old ladies ask if i am doing BBQ, and I say it is for big cats, and they r like:' is that you tiger that is loose???"
And I am like, don't u read paper, there is no tiger at large! Once rumors start, it is hard to kill hysteria. Anyway, these old ladies were totally fine with living with tiger at large in their community for the past 5 months.(GRIN)
Z
==
http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2007/Oct-19-Fri-2007/opinion/17379869.html
Oct. 19, 2007
Letters to the Editor
Advertisement
Wasting taxpayers' money
The following letter was addressed to the county commissioners, sheriff, emergency services, public and this newspaper:
I am sure you are aware of the latest rumor of an orange tiger on the loose in Pahrump, reported by an anonymous caller to the sheriff Oct. 11.
To be honest, I was not surprised since people with agendas, mostly extreme animal rights (AR) fanatics usually report fake big cat sightings across the USA, dump dead exotic animals or actually release harmless baby big cats and reptiles to incite public fear and hysteria before exotic animal legislation.
Note this phantom tiger incident happened only two weeks before a controversial Pahrump animal zoning hearing -- very suspicious timing.
As always, as a responsible big cat owner, I am offering my help with transport and housing in case this turns out to be a real case.
Same thing happened before a proposed Nye county animal control ordinance hearing in Tonopah last September. A properly crated baby mountain lion was found at the door of a privately owned Las Vegas zoo only a few days before the Nye ordinance hearing and it was all over the news.
Although reported to be malnourished to increase the sympathy for the supposed 'plight of exotics in captivity,' the cougar pictures clearly showed the animal was in good health.
In September 2001, a baby cougar boarded a conveniently empty school bus in Las Vegas -- Baby cougar and empty bus to make sure no human got hurt.
This coincided with multiple meetings discussing the draft of a proposed Clark County exotic animal ordinance. This incident was used by the proponents as an excuse to heavily regulate these animals, even though Nevada Wildlife already regulates native species like cougars and bobcats.
Since none of these cougars had a permanent ID (microchip or tattoo) as required by already existing state law, whoever released them did it illegally with a specific purpose. The Clark County ordinance still was not voted on and remains a draft, mainly due to finances -- it would require hiring two more animal control officers.
These baby cats at large or hoax sightings usually happen around legislative sessions. Increases in suspicious dead and live exotic animal dumping or hoax sightings across the country appears directly related to the legislation on private ownership of exotic and wild animals.
By instantly blaming private owners and increasing fear of exotic animal attacks during the legislative session, these staged incidents influence the legislators into passing taxpayers' money-wasting bills at the height of media and public hysteria.
I am sure you all know, according to the FBI, animal/environmental rights activists are considered the number one domestic terrorist threat. Releasing captive exotic animals or making false reports is illegal and should be prosecuted, if you can catch the suspect.
Is there a way to trace the callers of these tiger sightings and find out how legit they were?
This is not any different from somebody calling in a fake bomb scare that creates unjustified hysteria and causes government resources to be wasted on pursuing a nonexistent threat.
Then AR groups, or even hypocritical fellow owners who want to ban others and exempt themselves from the laws they push, create a "list of exotic incidents," which is extremely padded with these unconfirmed sightings and even include foreign or wild animal attacks.
They send it to legislators, sheriffs, commissioners, news, etc., where animal ordinances are proposed or where they want it to be proposed.
This furthers the hysteria to make it look as if there is an imminent threat of the American population being devoured by exotic animals and make sure animals get banned or heavily regulated, with the final goal of all of us being vegetarians and eliminating all animal use and companionship, step by step, exotics first, farmers/hunters next -- then all pets.
Why didn't the caller identify him or herself? Any honest caller would want to help with the investigation and make themselves available for further questioning about the animal and location.
Can this be investigated to find out who started this tiger hysteria and is wasting sheriff's and animal control time and taxpayers' money on prank phone calls?
ZUZANA KUKOL
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