Burkesbackyard
New Member
Hello all,
David Lutz request that we take a look at your website. I just wanted to reply to a few issues that have been raised in your forum. Please accept our apologies for mis-identifying the snake, unfortunately the voice on the camera tape called it a Stimpsons.
Your main concerns seem to be;
1. We headed the segment with some exotics - otherwise unobtainable in this country.
2. We didn't go into enough detail.
3. The editing.
4. We showed snakes in a bad light by airing an exotic venomous snake striking.
It is unfortunate that we ruffled so many feathers, so to speak. By far the majority of the responses we recieved through the viewer emails were positive and asking for further information. I'm happy to put your website on our Fact Sheet so that interested people may contact you directly.
We decided to show the exotic snakes purely as entertainment. We endevour to make the stories as interesting as possible (yes for ratings) for as many people as possible. Although there are a great many people who are interested in snakes, there is perhaps an equal amount of people who are not. We would like those people to keep watching too, so we need to make our stories as entertaining as possible, when possible. In our opinion, the Burmese python and the rattler simply made good vision and didn't reflect badly on the industry at all.
We only have four minutes to provide an overview of any given topic. We can't possibly provide enough detailed information in that time to even pretend that it is a comprehensive study of the topic. As such, there will always be items 'left on the cutting room floor', this is a reality. However, we are always mindful that the information we do provide is correct. That is important to us. Again apologies fo the incorrect label but as a story intended to inform potential owners about keeping certain snakes, I don't think we did a bad job.
In regards to showing herps in a bad light by airing the Burmese and aggressive rattler; In my opinion we didn't do collectors or snakes in general any harm. We didn't fake any of the shots, and we only shot what the park suggested to us. Perhaps we should have said that these exotics are not obtainable in Australia, point taken, but I do see in your own posts that one or two of you actually appear quite keen to get your hands on a 'psycho' jungle or rattler. Come on guys, double standard don't you think? At least we never said 'and if you really like snakes, you should look for the 'psycho' ones because thats what real herpitologists like!
Sorry to have upset so many of you, but I do believe that on the whole we did provide an entertaining and informative segment that was based on factual information provided to us by those who appeared on the segment.
No doubt this is not the last word, but I wont be able to address any further concerns that may be aired as a result of this post. Just thought we should answer some of your original issues.
I have added this website to our fact sheet so that interested people can contact you directly.
Regards,
James Peyton
Senior Researcher
David Lutz request that we take a look at your website. I just wanted to reply to a few issues that have been raised in your forum. Please accept our apologies for mis-identifying the snake, unfortunately the voice on the camera tape called it a Stimpsons.
Your main concerns seem to be;
1. We headed the segment with some exotics - otherwise unobtainable in this country.
2. We didn't go into enough detail.
3. The editing.
4. We showed snakes in a bad light by airing an exotic venomous snake striking.
It is unfortunate that we ruffled so many feathers, so to speak. By far the majority of the responses we recieved through the viewer emails were positive and asking for further information. I'm happy to put your website on our Fact Sheet so that interested people may contact you directly.
We decided to show the exotic snakes purely as entertainment. We endevour to make the stories as interesting as possible (yes for ratings) for as many people as possible. Although there are a great many people who are interested in snakes, there is perhaps an equal amount of people who are not. We would like those people to keep watching too, so we need to make our stories as entertaining as possible, when possible. In our opinion, the Burmese python and the rattler simply made good vision and didn't reflect badly on the industry at all.
We only have four minutes to provide an overview of any given topic. We can't possibly provide enough detailed information in that time to even pretend that it is a comprehensive study of the topic. As such, there will always be items 'left on the cutting room floor', this is a reality. However, we are always mindful that the information we do provide is correct. That is important to us. Again apologies fo the incorrect label but as a story intended to inform potential owners about keeping certain snakes, I don't think we did a bad job.
In regards to showing herps in a bad light by airing the Burmese and aggressive rattler; In my opinion we didn't do collectors or snakes in general any harm. We didn't fake any of the shots, and we only shot what the park suggested to us. Perhaps we should have said that these exotics are not obtainable in Australia, point taken, but I do see in your own posts that one or two of you actually appear quite keen to get your hands on a 'psycho' jungle or rattler. Come on guys, double standard don't you think? At least we never said 'and if you really like snakes, you should look for the 'psycho' ones because thats what real herpitologists like!
Sorry to have upset so many of you, but I do believe that on the whole we did provide an entertaining and informative segment that was based on factual information provided to us by those who appeared on the segment.
No doubt this is not the last word, but I wont be able to address any further concerns that may be aired as a result of this post. Just thought we should answer some of your original issues.
I have added this website to our fact sheet so that interested people can contact you directly.
Regards,
James Peyton
Senior Researcher