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Port St. Lucie's Cobraman is feeling the bite
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by tigers9 on November 26, 2008
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http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/nov/23/cobraman-feeling-the-bite/
Port St. Lucie's Cobraman is feeling the bite
Snake expert vows to be more careful
By Will Greenlee
Sunday, November 23, 2008
PORT ST. LUCIE — Nearly 13 months later, Ray Hunter still experiences a tingling, "pins and needles" feeling in his right hand.
But it could be worse, says Hunter, 45, a venomous-snake aficionado with a nickname of "Cobraman."
"I didn't expect to live," said Hunter, recalling the October 2007 bite from an eastern diamondback rattlesnake, a monster at more than 5 feet he received through animal control officials days earlier.
He ended up in renal failure during a five-week hospital stay that also included about 30 vials of antivenin and surgery to relieve swelling to avoid the amputation of his arm. The total cost was about $630,000, and he doesn't have insurance.
"Who would insure you when you work with venomous snakes?" said Hunter, who keeps and sells the snakes as a business.
The bite from the eastern diamondback was Hunter's 44th serious one and he says his last. The Miami native's passion for venomous snakes remains, but he's become more cautious.
"For anyone to go through what I went through, which I don't wish on anybody, and to not come out of that learning some very, very valuable lessons, well, you'd have to almost be brain dead," he said.
Hunter, who drove to St. Lucie Medical Center after the bite, is more careful around snakes these days and is considering removing some of the more daring photos from his Web site — cobraman.net. Several show him holding cobras and mambas.
"I don't want to send out a bad message," he said. "People see those pictures and they assume that, 'Oh well, he must walk around 8 hours a day holding a cobra.'"
For several months after being released from the hospital, writing remained difficult for the right-handed Hunter.
"Now I'm writing pretty much back to the way I used to — sloppy but I can hold a pen," he said, noting typing remains difficult and he finds himself using just the pinky on his right hand when doing so.
Hunter, who says he has the necessary permits from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to keep and sell venomous snakes, typically has several hundred on hand at an undisclosed facility. He keeps no venomous snakes at his condominium, which is where the eastern diamondback bit him. He had it there because he planned to ship it out the next morning to Texas.
Hunter considered giving up the venomous snake business but said his degree — and heart — are in the field.
"I really enjoy working with the animals and I realize there's a risk involved but we take as much, if not more, of a risk driving to work every morning," he said. "At least I know that animal in front of me is going to try and bite me and it is going to try and kill me. You don't know what that car behind you is going to do."
Ray Hunter, 45, earlier this month holds a 14 foot Malaysian King Cobra, which he plans to sell to a zoo.
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RE: Port St. Lucie's Cobraman is feeling the bite
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by yoyoing on November 28, 2008
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The replies where outrageous. The article was factual with a fair amount of compassion. Some idiots responded with the usual trite. They apparently didn't get the part where Ray was assuming the risk for this animal removed from the wild at the request of others. He provided a service and should be thanked for this by the community just miles north of me. He may have saved someone else's life.
I tried to add a comment on TCPalm but had the usual problem that I never remember usernames and passwords created over the years but rarely used. I hope someone else can correct these fools.
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