cement
Very Well-Known Member
As a snake catcher and relocator, I get to see and meet many different types of people who are having a confrontation with a reptile.
It didn't take me long to figure out that the majority of people I meet are flat out scared of reptiles. If I was to extrapolate the percentages I would guess that probably 90% of people are scared and under the wrong impressions about our native herps and talk of wives tales that they were told and believe.
In fact in the years that I have being doing this I have only ever been able to actually hand a wild diamond to 2 people for a quick hold. This is after talking the truth about them and following it up with a demonstration and is a part of my job in educating the public.
To look at it further, I would say that 15% of all my call outs are to people who are so scared of reptiles that they physically become sick at the sight of them, and stress terribly if they get much closer then a few meters away. One example just quickly, (and I have heaps) is the young fella who is a nurse (so fairly hardened to blood and guts etc) who had a bluetounge stuck in his laundry, which i removed. he was so stressed at the sight of it he almost passed out and had to sit down and could not look at it. I had to bag it and keep it out of sight. There was no point at all in hanging around and talking of the beauty and truth about them.
To help these people is our job as reptile rescuers. You soon understand that it is simply the way it is, and you will not change these people. You have to respect that persons point of view, and handle the situation professionally, and with real care for the person involved. They have done the right thing by calling us, so we catch the animal and get it out of there as quickly as.
These people are in our society, and just because we feel comfortable with our one or two pet snakes, doesn't give us the right to take our pets out into the public domain. The NPWS, and the police etc also realize that there are these reptile phobic people in society, and this is why it is illegal to take them out into public without the proper authority.
To do so, is not only breaking the law, and your reptile keeping licence conditions,
but a vain attempt to show everyone how special you are, at the risk of severely stressing out other members of the public. You can do what you want at home with them, but if you can't be responsible with them then you will eventually probably lose them and also damage everyone else's chances of keeping at the same time.
Cars..... Another point to make here is this. I was told before I started relocating that i must have the animal bagged and in a transport tub. On that tub must be a sign/sticker declaring that inside the tub is a venomous snake (if it is a ven).
If I am ever involved in a car accident and the cops or ambo's see that I am carrying a tub that says venomous snake on it, They will not touch me until another snake handler is called and there is no threat to them. This will be the case if you need help and a python is loose in your car too. Ironically, it could well be the snake that causes the accident, and then you bleed out waiting for someone who knows snakes, to move it out of the way.
It boils down simply to RESPECT. Respect of others who don't share your passion.
It didn't take me long to figure out that the majority of people I meet are flat out scared of reptiles. If I was to extrapolate the percentages I would guess that probably 90% of people are scared and under the wrong impressions about our native herps and talk of wives tales that they were told and believe.
In fact in the years that I have being doing this I have only ever been able to actually hand a wild diamond to 2 people for a quick hold. This is after talking the truth about them and following it up with a demonstration and is a part of my job in educating the public.
To look at it further, I would say that 15% of all my call outs are to people who are so scared of reptiles that they physically become sick at the sight of them, and stress terribly if they get much closer then a few meters away. One example just quickly, (and I have heaps) is the young fella who is a nurse (so fairly hardened to blood and guts etc) who had a bluetounge stuck in his laundry, which i removed. he was so stressed at the sight of it he almost passed out and had to sit down and could not look at it. I had to bag it and keep it out of sight. There was no point at all in hanging around and talking of the beauty and truth about them.
To help these people is our job as reptile rescuers. You soon understand that it is simply the way it is, and you will not change these people. You have to respect that persons point of view, and handle the situation professionally, and with real care for the person involved. They have done the right thing by calling us, so we catch the animal and get it out of there as quickly as.
These people are in our society, and just because we feel comfortable with our one or two pet snakes, doesn't give us the right to take our pets out into the public domain. The NPWS, and the police etc also realize that there are these reptile phobic people in society, and this is why it is illegal to take them out into public without the proper authority.
To do so, is not only breaking the law, and your reptile keeping licence conditions,
but a vain attempt to show everyone how special you are, at the risk of severely stressing out other members of the public. You can do what you want at home with them, but if you can't be responsible with them then you will eventually probably lose them and also damage everyone else's chances of keeping at the same time.
Cars..... Another point to make here is this. I was told before I started relocating that i must have the animal bagged and in a transport tub. On that tub must be a sign/sticker declaring that inside the tub is a venomous snake (if it is a ven).
If I am ever involved in a car accident and the cops or ambo's see that I am carrying a tub that says venomous snake on it, They will not touch me until another snake handler is called and there is no threat to them. This will be the case if you need help and a python is loose in your car too. Ironically, it could well be the snake that causes the accident, and then you bleed out waiting for someone who knows snakes, to move it out of the way.
It boils down simply to RESPECT. Respect of others who don't share your passion.
