Hook or jigger debate?

[snakehandler]

I have just looked at the midwest site, they call them all hooks.....I now will have to say it is a personal choice what name you call each item, just like an egg flip or fish slice, depends on who you speak to, what they have been told and the message is...there is no definite answer!!

[Tatelina]

But the poll shows the preference from APS members...and if this is relative to the general herp community...wouldn't that mean that reptile publications and training courses should teach people the more widely accepted term? Just a thought...

[snakehandler]

Is APS representative of the Herp community?? Not all members of the herp community go on line, many reptile people I meet do not go on any forums!

Currently we use the term hook to describe products simliar to the one originally posted!

[Tatelina]

That's why I said... if this is representative. But anyway.

[JasonL]

Originally Posted by Australis

snakehandler,

It should also be added that this person was on her very first call out
not to mention being on camera, would add to being a little nervous.

Hardly the best case to compare catching methods/tools.

Fair go.

Bugger that! I never saw the episode, but thats crazy, TV film crews are a hundred times harder to deal with than elapids, I would of told them to bugger off.

[wood_nymph]

that's a hook, i own that one, it's a hook what more can i say

[JasonL]

Originally Posted by TrueBlue

I agree with jonno here as i dont like tongs in any shape or form. Ive had to catch and relocte snakes in just about evey situation you could come across and ive yet to ever need or consider wanting to use a pair.

But there are far less people willing to / able to tail snakes than there are snake rescues, and there are alot of snake rescuers that arn't into reptiles so much, and battle to even ID some species of snake, these people should never be taught to tail wild elapids, tongs are better than shovels.

[snakehandler]

Tongs are only better if a person is trained to use them properly and the tongs are humane, I still see the pilstrum tongs for sale, which are well known to mutilate snakes!

[redbellybite]

it is called a jigger ..........mine are made out of golf clubs with a piece of shaped thick wire (i dont know the tec name for it steel places would) my hubby welded the end onto the club , i have a fair amount of jiggers for all sorts of situations i have a long handle long neck question mark shaped except instead of being as round as a ? it is extended so it is flattened on the ground to pull up the snake,i do have a small ? one that looks exactly like a? for use in rbb in washing machines or getting bts gts off rafters i have a 7 shape for goannas i do have a pinner ,i have a short based U shape for the big pythons that wont co -operate just so i have some control to move the bugger and convince it to get in my bag ..like I said before if your experienced and licensed you use whats legal in your state ........we all drive cars ,but we all dont drive exactly the same but as long as its done safely we dont get booked ...same thing in a rescue situation......redbellybite

[TrueBlue]

JasonL, the snake rescuers/relocators that you are refering to should NOT be relocating snakes, simple as that.!!!!

[PilbaraPythons]

Rob
In an ideal world, what you say would be true and preferred, however the reality is that many out back towns have little or no trained snake handlers for what ever reasons. So if we were rigid in a stance that only competent snake catchers should do snake relocations, then there would be simply too few, and at times nobody available in emergency situations where sometimes lives are at risk. However, even somebody with no training at all, would in my opinion would be at less risk of receiving a bite using tongs than attempting to tail or pin an elapid for the first time. The evidence is reflected in the absences of bites here in Port Hedland from the numerous elapid removals preformed by poorly trained and in most cases untrained people who do these jobs regularly over many years.

[Ozzie Python]

Rob, those people who don't know how to tail elapids,like myself, can still safely remove a snake. Fact is if i can't remove it with a hook/jigger, i won't. Needless to say i would love to learn to tail, but at the moment it is good to learn how certain snakes move and react with a hook, only then with a bit more experience and knowing what to expect, will i be attempting to tail.

Surely you would rather someone hook a snake into a bag rather than leave it to some bloke and his shovel, which would prob end up with a person in hospital and a dead snake just because someone can't tail.

[PilbaraPythons]

Now cme on now True Blue, argue with me son,...... argue with me, ........now you know you want to.

[JasonL]

agree 100% Dave, but you don't have to isolate it to only outback towns, even around Sydney people seem to be hard to find at times, just because someone with a 4 foot snake rings WIRES, doesn't mean anyone will come and get it, usually a neighbour with a shovel will lend a hand though. In a world where it is still very much "the only good snake is a dead snake" I would rather see more willing and able people armed with tongs than 4 foot snakes cut into 1 foot segments, there is only so much time someone with kids or dogs will let a snake sun itself in their backyard.

[NCHERPS]

I have never heard of the word 'Jigger' until I came to Australia and enrolled in a Wildlife carers course.
As with Tatelina, the instructor started referring to a standard hook as a 'Jigger'.
It amused me and I just put it down to an Australianism. LOL!

However, it appears that the name might just be a Wiresism! LOL!

I will always refer to it for what it is, a Hook!


Neil