Chased by a brown?

[GeckPhotographer]

Look at the great nature documentary makers like David Attenborough
Although there is no doubt he probably did pose a few of the shots that were taken most people would never realise that, and saw animals in their natural habitat doing their natural thing

They get to see natural behavior which I agree is good, but a lot more is set up than you might realise. You seen Life in Cold Blood? The Pig Nosed Turtle egg dropped into the jar is not the same one that hatches the first one didn't work, the hatching turtles on the bank hatch weeks ago and were reburied, all the hip pocket frog footage is in a small tank apart from a snippet shot in forest 500km south of their range in which you can see a bridge in the backround.

 

[dihsmaj]

Look mate it was already annoyed because it was grabbed, put in a bag and driven for a bit and he's doing what Longqi said, trying to get the "WOW" factor -- also Longqi that 60 minutes story sounds like something they would do!

 

[moosenoose]

Brown snakes dont 'put on a show' unless provoked into doing so
There is zero educational use in these shots as 99.99% of people will never see any snake act like that
But there is a great WOW factor

The same snake released into heavy cover would have simply vanished into the undergrowth

But not much WOW in watching that on UTube

Really?? I thought they did that all day long as an expression of their own happiness...fancy that :lol: :lol:

 

[CamdeJong]

Elapidae1 I wasn't referring to your post at all, just adding to Peter's comment in a neutral manner. Richoman did you read my earlier post? Can you make an argument for how any snake is aggressive?

 

[moosenoose]

I really don't see the issue here. 95% of other Aussie males would have puffed the chest out and belted it with a large stick or tossed rocks at it and killed it. Some bloke want to take some snaps of a snake he's obviously rescued form somewhere and we're having a song and dance about it?? Talk about wanting to argue over nothing :lol:

 

[notechistiger]

"Befriend" a lizard and suddenly you're an expert on everything

Good on you Tony. We need more people like you.

 

[longqi]

Moose
It has zero to do with how great a snake catcher he is

Relocating elapids is great fun and it can be done with minimum stress to the snake on most occasions
No doubt this is how he usually operates and I applaud him for his work

But to prolong the fear and confusion of any wild animal just to test out some new camera and put it on a web site is pushing the boundaries a bit too far in my opinion

 

[$NaKe PiMp]

deleted

wow the water skink dude thinks his opinion matters !!! how cute

armed with his impressive knowledge and experiance



i find it amazing that people club browns,trap them into a horrific death in birdnetting,run them over,pour boiling water on them,shoot them with shotguns and people are not generally concerned with there welfare whatsover.

Now a bloke who loves snakes takes a few pics of one of his favourite species arcing up,and all the numptys pipe up as if they actually suddenly care for the brown snakes welfare.

Tony is a great snake ambassador and does more than you haters ever could for there welfare,
keep taking pics tony i look forward to seeing them

 

[myusername]

Tony is a great snake ambassador and does more than you haters ever could for there welfare,
keep taking pics tony i look forward to seeing them

Agreed!

 

[Red-Ink]

I see people's point about the harassment....
I was having a look around and found other videos of people harrasing snakes and making them take a defensive stance, to the point that the snake can be said to be "attacking".

Here's one I found where an old pommy bloke kept harassing a cobra for the camera to the point were the cobra took a stance and spat venom towards his eyes.... when will this people ever learn hey? And all for what a bit of footage....

LiveLeak.com - Spitting Cobra

 

[Snake_Whisperer]

Well unfortunately authorities dont care at all if someone kills a snake, let alone just annoy it.

So many instant classics! You're not wrong here, just have a look at the recent thread Jungleman and Jewelz had running and how well the authorities responded to a legitimate and legal situation. I don't think Tony has to put on his Ned Kelly gear just yet!

AHAHAHA, He's a snake catcher, If he didn't take them away from where they were, they'd probably get a shovel through their head.
I don't see how he's "tormenting" and "terrorising" the snake, he's taking photos, the snakes defensive, and he lets it go.
Go feed your pet EWS some mealworms, bud.

LOL! What's with the "mealworms" thing? Is there some unlicenced, unqualified dolt out there interfering with native wildlife? Hate those idiots!

Well I did edit my post as I was being nice but after reading various nasty posts by said member on other threads and this one I will say it again. How is it alright to restrain an EWD for a photo op and then try and convince people it wasn't scared and liked being held but this is not alright, hypocrite much . Oh but it was shutting it's eyes when you patted it's head, that is because it was scared not because it was enjoying the interaction. I wonder what the authorities would think of someone deliberately interfering with a lizards natural diet so they can look like some kind of reptile grizzly adams on a forum.

Heh heh, I removed your earlier quote from my post but I didn't want to, it was well worded and hilarious! Thanks for stepping back up to the plate KJ!

I much perfer someone chasing a snake with a camera than with a shovel.

See, now that is ACTUALLY important! Well put SL.

I really don't see the issue here. 95% of other Aussie males would have puffed the chest out and belted it with a large stick or tossed rocks at it and killed it. Some bloke want to take some snaps of a snake he's obviously rescued form somewhere and we're having a song and dance about it?? Talk about wanting to argue over nothing :lol:

Always a way with words Moose! You are not wrong, I'll also add to it, 90+% of fatalities caused by EB bites are/were to the same morons Moose is talking about. That EB will go on to eat, hide, and mate in peace thanks to Tony. Gawd, some people are just silly.

"Befriend" a lizard and suddenly you're an expert on everything

Good on you Tony. We need more people like you.

Lol, gotta love the "experts"!

wow the water skink dude thinks his opinion matters !!! how cute

armed with his impressive knowledge and experiance



i find it amazing that people club browns,trap them into a horrific death in birdnetting,run them over,pour boiling water on them,shoot them with shotguns and people are not generally concerned with there welfare whatsover.

Now a bloke who loves snakes takes a few pics of one of his favourite species arcing up,and all the numptys pipe up as if they actually suddenly care for the brown snakes welfare.

Tony is a great snake ambassador and does more than you haters ever could for there welfare,
keep taking pics tony i look forward to seeing them

Last but definitely not least... post of the month goes to the Pimp. Well said mate. Lol, "water skink dude"! I don't know what it means but the title sure is underwhelming!

 

[ianinoz]

People need to get over themselves... He did not hurt the animal, sure it got agitated a bit but it ain't no different than any other so called media personality out there. Brady Barr, Austen Steven, Donald Schutlz and the Late Steve Irwin all did/do this. I wonder if the people that think this is so wrong watch their shows and think "ohh cool"...

Was never a fan of Steve Irwin for that very reason. Admired his enthusiasm for animals, did not like how he harassed animals into doing things to get "spectacular' or "scary" video clips.

If that offends anyone (since he's now dead) then sorry - get over it.

Moose
It has zero to do with how great a snake catcher he is

Relocating elapids is great fun and it can be done with minimum stress to the snake on most occasions
No doubt this is how he usually operates and I applaud him for his work

But to prolong the fear and confusion of any wild animal just to test out some new camera and put it on a web site is pushing the boundaries a bit too far in my opinion

I agree .

you do know that snakes dont know what cameras are, dont you ?

It's the big scary human behind the camera who is harassing them that's the problem.

 

[Elapidae1]

LOL
This has turned into a rather amusing thread. I'm sure it'll be remembered long after the Snake has forgotten its torment

 

[saximus]

Ian your understanding of the word "troll" is completely wrong. You jus make yourself look foolish when you keep saying it. Having said that I'm addicted to any thread you post in now. They all turn into great entertainment.

As for the original video I'm a little torn. I love the "wow" pictures that this sort of thing gets but feel bad for the animal. Maybe they forget about it as soon as the "threat" is gone and I shouldn't anthropomorphise so much though. Odds are the guys like Tony who have been in the game so long know much better than I

 

[Elapidae1]

Yes I believe they have very short memory, I'm sure once the percieved threat has gone and said snake has found comfortable shelter it soon gets over it.

Yes Ianinoz, you are a troll but entertaining

 

[longqi]

I simply cannot understand why so many senior members here support these actions

You are telling all the younger members that it is a great idea to pose; harass; and stage manage nature photos; regardless of the unknown consequences for the animal being photographed; and regardless of the very real danger of encouraging a ven to behave like that

 

[$NaKe PiMp]

another factor of "annoying" a brown snake could be quite a positive one.
From what i have learnt from studying Captive Animal Husbandry is the importance of behavioral enrichment. Now behavioral enrichment is animal husbandry principles that seek to enhance the quality of captive animal care by identifying and providing the environmental stimuli needed for psychological development.
Apart from providing pleasant experiences to the animal, it also involves sometimes providing " predatory responses" such as momentarily scaring the animal by different stimuli,such as simulating the presence of danger that would be present everywhere in the animals natural world,but absent in captivity.
Now Even though this is a wild Eastern brown snake and not in captivity, provoking it for a few pictures surely would not leave it to psychologically dammaged and alot less stressful than other stimuli in its environment of cats,dogs, people with shovels etc.
i cant say for sure, but from my extensive experience of encounters with the Eastern Brown snake i would say they do just fine.
Now i also take into account people with the opposite opinion to this one,usually have 0% experience of being close up with this species.
just sayin...


oh and P.S for all the haters of Steve Irwin and his take on engaging and interacting with wild animals for the camera,he was the most successful wildlife activist the world has ever seen and made more people aware of the environment than any other human being in history,
I applaud his methods and his ability to present to the world our amazing creatures.
what you haters got? yea nothing

 

[Snake Catcher Victoria]

Well said Rob

 

[MathewB]

I simply cannot understand why so many senior members here support these actions

You are telling all the younger members that it is a great idea to pose; harass; and stage manage nature photos; regardless of the unknown consequences for the animal being photographed; and regardless of the very real danger of encouraging a ven to behave like that

The closest I ever want to be to a brown at the moment is on the end of some binoculars haha


And Ian I'd pack it in, quit while your ahead (so to speak)

 

[Elapidae1]

I simply cannot understand why so many senior members here support these actions

You are telling all the younger members that it is a great idea to pose; harass; and stage manage nature photos; regardless of the unknown consequences for the animal being photographed; and regardless of the very real danger of encouraging a ven to behave like that

Firstly I would like to discourage young and or inexperienced people from interacting with snakes in this manner, however provided that the snake manages to stay away from shovels and cats etc I'm sure it will continue to live a long and fullfilling life with no long term phsycological damage.

Longqi I cannot understand why someone like yourself who has obviously been around the traps for a while still holds onto such anthropomorphistic ideas.
As for your comments regarding Attenborough he likely has a group of handlers/botherers helping him stage shots. The fact is most herp photographs would be near impossible to obtain without some level of posing/manipulation.