Black Sabbath

[armata]

Goose, why is the girl on your left asleep?

[Mongoose]

I'm not sure hey, she's german.. Or maybe she just feels comfey in my arms?

[Bushviper]

Mongoose did the Rohypnol kick in too quickly? Looks that way to me.

Tailing a snake and free handling are two totally different ways of holding a snake. That is like the difference between running and carrying a a huge sharp butchers' knife by the handle or the blade. Both are possible but one is not a very bright thing to do. In the circus I have seen them juggling knives and holding the blades in their mouths so obviously it is possible but I would not try to do this unless I had no other choice.

Anybody can drive a bike at high speed while drunk and stoned and have unprotected sex with a prostitute. Just because you can do it and you know there is a risk of injury or death, that does not mean you should be showing it off to everyone! Driving that same bike at high speed when sober on an open highway and having unprotected sex with your wife is acceptable (although we might not want to see pictures of that either). Not quite the same thing!

[BushSnake]

The reason we don't want to have pictures of venomous snakes being free handled is because people that know nothing about it might also have a go at it. So, even though Goose did nothing really dangerous compared to the other posts, uninformed people can easily see the two as the same thing. I agree with Stretch in that pics like this should rather not be posted, but I do not see anthing wrong with the way the snake is handled. So in future I would suggest sticking to the natural shot or at least having a piece of "professional equipment" like a pair of tongs / hook in the pic so that a random person can associate it with a knowledgable person.

[armata]

Goose-consider yourself admonished rather than critisized

[Mongoose]

Haha Tony, no worries - I understand what the people are getting too.. I just don't wanna start debating and all the junk hence why I never responded too it.

[Bushviper]

I think we need to make a stand about this as well now. I am tired of trying to be politically correct and wussified because of what the common idiot might do. Yes some of us who do have the skills and training will catch certain venomous snakes with our bare hands if we must and if we feel it is an acceptable risk. We do not always wear shoes and glasses and kevlar gloves. We do not always have tubes and hooks with us when certain things happen. To now become "americanised" and worry about the idiot out there who might copy us is not right either. That is as bad as the warning from the take away place that the coffee is hot!

Just because I see a trained stunt man climbing out of a chopper window in flight that does not mean I am going to do it or aspire to do it either. That is his job and he is skilled or he dies .... simple. If I see a guy abseiling down the side of a building I am not going to go get a piece of clothesline and try to emulate him.

To free handle a snake is not a skill and serves no purpose. It is not anything you can say you are trained in or qualified to do. Handling a snake by its tail if you have the necessary experience is no more of a risk than firing a shotgun at a shooting range. Until something goes wrong it is safe and you only have yourself to blame if procedures are not followed. If there is an accident it is an accident and not a case of being stupid. Firing a shotgun in your home is the same action but the common sense bit is missing.

Mongoose has worked with enough venomous snakes to know that he could do this and if the risk got too much he could release the animal. Putting the snake in your palm is a totally different story. If someone sees Mongoose and tries to emulate him and gets bitten they have only themselves to blame. I have seen people swim with sharks but I have enough intelligence to know that it is not an acceptable risk to me so I wont do it. Same applies here.

[Serpy]

Well said BV and i agree on everything.