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RE: Snake man biten by puffadder - again
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by tigers9 on January 26, 2010
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Mail this to a friend!
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http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=139&art_id=vn20100126042532643C877936
Wife against Snakeman's stunts
By Tarryn Harbour
'Nutty" Natie Swart's lengthy stay in a 2m² enclosure with 40 venomous snakes has raised R28 178,75 for charity.
Natie's record attempt was called off following him being bitten by a snake for the third time, and the box containing donations from the public was emptied and counted in the presence of two police constables yesterday.
Natie was due to be released from hospital today. His wife, Marina, said she would not allow him do such a thing again.
"I'm sad it's over, but I won't let him do it again," she said.
Hennie Jonk, the co-owner of the Chameleon Village Reptile and Conservation Park at Hartbeespoort Dam where the record attempt was carried out, said: "In a way, it was a bad time (to have the world record attempt), because of the recession."
But there are people who are less enamoured with stunts like this. They believe any time would be a bad time to stage such an event.
Johan Marais is the chairman of the South African Reptile Conservation Assessment and has written and co-authored a number of books on snakes. According to him, snake sit-ins are a big publicity stunt.
"First of all, there's no such world record. These sit-ins started back in the 70s and 80s, but they were never officially recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records," he explained.
Marais added that people had a morbid fascination with snakes, which increased when someone gets bitten.
"It's all about the money... you get some real cowboys."
And with all the publicity and media interest, they become celebrities.
"There are some really weird people attracted by snakes," he said.
Marais is against the free handling of venomous snakes.
"It's a really bad example to set. It's just a matter of time before we have more deaths. It's just reckless and irresponsible."
Marais pointed out that no snake in the world would bite a human being for no reason.
"If you make sudden movements, or stand on a snake, then it will bite you. There is no danger if you keep still."
A member of the medical profession who deals with snake bite victims and who did not want to be identified, warned that Natie was going to get himself killed if he carried out such a stunt again.
"Or he's going to get a kid killed, because they see this guy behaving like this with venomous snakes and they think it's ok. It's ridiculous," he said.
He added that keeping snakes for an extended period of time outside their natural environment and in the company of various species of snake was tantamount to animal cruelty.
But Jonk denies that such sit-ins are tantamount to cruelty.
"We look after our snakes very well. These sit-ins actually save thousands of snakes, because we are educating people about them."
He encouraged people who thought it was to cruel to visit the snake park while there was a sit-in going on, to see for themselves how the snakes were treated. "We have inspections by people from the SPCA and other conservation societies. We are properly registered.
"People say, 'Oh, those poor 40 snakes in the cage'. What about the 40 000 snakes that are killed every year? I think the guy sitting in the cage does a great job showing people that they don't have to be afraid of snakes."
Jonk will still be collecting contributions from the public until February 21, when all the funds will be handed over to the three charities involved - Save the Children, New Beginningz, and Unesibindzi Tortoise Sanctuary, which is part of the Chameleon Village.
• This article was originally published on page 4 of The Pretoria News on January 26, 2010
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