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RE: Some things scare and pi$$ me off
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by Rob_Carmichael on March 14, 2006
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Once again, all of the freedoms we enjoy are those that are priveleges; just like owning venomous snakes; yes, I understand that. It is just my belief that young people shouldn't own them until they are at the proper life stage; honestly, what's the fuss? I don't give a rip if they can fight in a war or whatever, that's just my belief just like its someone else's belief that a young person should have the opportunity to own venomous snakes; that is their prerogative as well and I respect that...no biggie (heck, there's probably a good chance that I could be wrong!). How many people would have an issue with "Little Johnny" the 16 year old keeping a monocled cobra as a pet in his bedroom right next door to you (particularly if you are someone like me who has a wife and kids to take care of). I never attacked Cody or whoever you are talking about...my comments were never directed at any one individual. I am NOT anti-youth; I am a father and most of the "kids" who work for me are under 21 who do an outstanding job in caring for our herp collection. We work with young people seven days a week and reach 1000's of kids every week in our incredible reptile/raptor conservation programs. BUT, in order to work with venomous at my facility, you must be at least 21 years of age and have demonstrated a high amount of proficiency and a proven track record with non venomous species over a LONG period of time (minimum of six years working with me and then you go through an extensive venomous mentorship program including a certification, testing, etc.). It takes years of mentoring and "study" to master the techniques and my staff, who are young people, would agree 100%. Personally, I would rather have an old fart's reflexes who has honed his/her skills over many years with venomous over a young, whipper snapper young guy who thinks he knows everything - that's a no brainer. Personally, my old body's reflexes are probably better than most young folks (may stem from my former professional ball playing days)....not trying to sound self righteous as I am always in a state of learning new things; knowledge is power and if you ever stop trying to acquire knowledge, you have come to a dead end. And, as a parting comment, money and happiness don't always go hand in hand. Although I do quite well in my curatorial role and can provide fully for my family and all of the things that they enjoy doing, I also had opportunities to go in a different direction in my earlier years; I did that and quickly learned that doing something that you love for a living is FAR superior than doing something that brings little meaning but a nice paycheck. I'm done preaching.
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RE: Some things scare and pi$$ me off
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by Phobos on March 15, 2006
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Hi Everybody:
Great thread, good debate, however we've done this all before and nothing has changed.
Some lessions will just have to be learned the "hard way" as the snakebite statistics show. Mike Cardwell who co-authored a paper with Dr. Sean Bush, MD (presented at the Snakebite symposium, 10/2005)titled "Males biting Males: Does Testerone shape both sides the snakebite equation". Out of 78 Rattlesnake bites presented at Loma Linda Medical Center 83% were male patients and 81% were on the hands/forearms. The offending Rattlesnake 83% of the time were male also. The sex of the snake is not important for this discussion but for completeness I mentioned it.
Should young male humans keep venomous snakes? No, statistically your asking for trouble. Will young men who have a passion for snakes keep venomous snakes? Yes! Many of us got started in our teen when we should NOT have been around them but we were.
Rather debating whether they should or should not, we should be taking those young people and mentoring them. Giving them the safe handling & husbantry skills they lack to offset the "testerone" factor. I think Rob and his programs at his facility is a fine example of the training & experience I am talking about.
Cheers!
Al
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RE: Some things scare and pi$$ me off
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by rataretasty on March 17, 2006
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I know cody and he can handle the snakes he owns safely but I dont think people should get into hots without some kind of verified training with a pro that would help the future of our hobby I think. Just my opinion.
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RE: Some things scare and pi$$ me off
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by snakebite22 on March 17, 2006
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I just want to put my 2 cents in on this one. I've been keeping venomous for years but the first ones I obtained I actually went out and caught. Now that caused alot of problems with my parents no matter where i would hide them they found them. Now I also wanted to say this. When I got older and lived on my own I decided to really get into venomous. I remember making my very first order with Crutchfeilds. Crutchfeilds made me fax over a proof of age to show I was 18 or over before they would do anything. I don't know what's happened to that but over the last couple years I've been buying snakes and not one person has asked to verify age. The closest thing I've gotten was when I purchased an adult pair of black mambas and that was "you ever dealt with these before"... I do aggree there needs to be some kind of age limit or guidelines for buying and selling venomous and life threatening animals over the internet all it's going to take is a few more mistakes and the federal government will get involved. Thanks for letting me air my 2 cents
Richard
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