I propose the following, very important legislation.

[FaithManor]

"The law shall prohibit news organizations from publishing pictures on the web of the Florida snake hunt as this offends the sensibilities of many good people and contributes to the decay of the moral fabric of society."

 

I'm getting scared to check the news anymore.

 

Isn't there ANYTHING happening in the world beside pythons in the Everglades????Do we care???? I mean, just nuke the place and hunting season is over.

 

Sigh....

 

I hate snakes. I am prepared to move to a snake free environment. Does anybody know if there are snakes in Iceland? I'm thinking possibly NOT...I wonder how hard it is to immigrate to that great nation!

 

Faith

[Excelsior! Academy]

I agree! *shudder*

[TravelingChris]

There aren't any snakes in Ireland.

 

I like snakes.

[FaithManor]

Ireland....what a lovely country! I think I'll go there.

 

Faith

[Mama Geek]

There are no snakes in Alaska other than on TV. Give me a grizzly any day over a snake.

[Heather in Neverland]

Well, there goes my hopes of you moving here! Part of our staff training each year is how to use the snake venom kit in case you run into a cobra on campus. We once had one in the staff bathroom. :)

 

 

[DragonFaerie]

Well, there goes my hopes of you moving here! Part of our staff training each year is how to use the snake venom kit in case you run into a cobra on campus. We once had one in the staff bathroom. :)

 

 

 

AAAACCCCKKKKK!!!!! :willy_nilly: :willy_nilly: :willy_nilly:

[FaithManor]

Well, there goes my hopes of you moving here! Part of our staff training each year is how to use the snake venom kit in case you run into a cobra on campus. We once had one in the staff bathroom. :)

 

 

Heather, you could hire dh to teach science. He would be fine in such a situation.

 

Me, you'd find me hiding inside my house and NEVER leaving until our term was over. I mean, yeah, if your mom wanted to visit and she needed a travel companion, I would suck.it.up. (does that tell you how highly I think of you???? :seeya:) and come. But, oh my word, to find something like that in the bathroom. I would pass out and it would eat me.end.of.my.life.

 

Possibly this all stems from the fact that my college biology professor was a snake-a-holic and kept several varieties of the creatures, all of them quite venomous, in the bio room. They'd snap their heads on the glass of their cages. He'd feed them when we were there and it was so awful because they were deadly and he had to get them cornered with this thing and make sure they couldn't get loose while he dropped whatever poor, unsuspecting, furry live lunch was on the menu for the day. GACK!

 

But, the worst was that they regularly escaped because he was THE ABSENTMINDED PROFESSOR and often left their tops aschew after feeding them. I used to pull my feet up and sit on them in my lecture seat, which was not comfortable, just to make sure I didn't get snapped from behind. It wore on my psyche. Then the inevitable happened, one of his particularly nasty ones got loose and he couldn't find it. For seven days it was loose somewhere in the science building and THE ADMINISTRATION DID NOT CANCEL CLASS. The head of environmental science, a conservationist at heart except when it came to snakes, carried a shot-gun with him wherever he went. It was a good thing too. Because if he hadn't, one of my classmates would have been dead. She came around a corner and there it was coiled and ready to strike. She screamed, dear gun-toting prof flew out of his office, and nailed it - he had scope and spent enough time at the shooting range that he was practically a sniper. Student would have been toast if it weren't for him. The school allowed dumb professor to keep those blasted things for research and NO ANTI-VENOM WAS STOCKED ON THE SCHOOL PROPERTY!!!! She never would have made it to the hospital.

 

Bio prof was furious that his snake was killed. He didn't seem to be concerned about the student. I swear this guy had several screws loose and rattling around his skull.

 

At any rate, since then, I really do have trouble...it's not just hatred...it's the occasional panic attack. I had been in that hallway, not two minutes before and never saw the evil, murderous beast. I don't know where it was, but it could have easily gotten me and so my snake phobia is rather exponential in scope now.

 

Faith

[DragonFaerie]

Heather, you could hire dh to teach science. He would be fine in such a situation.

 

Me, you'd find me hiding inside my house and NEVER leaving until our term was over. I mean, yeah, if your mom wanted to visit and she needed a travel companion, I would suck.it.up. (does that tell you how highly I think of you???? :seeya:) and come. But, oh my word, to find something like that in the bathroom. I would pass out and it would eat me.end.of.my.life.

 

Possibly this all stems from the fact that my college biology professor was a snake-a-holic and kept several varieties of the creatures, all of them quite venomous, in the bio room. They'd snap their heads on the glass of their cages. He'd feed them when we were there and it was so awful because they were deadly and he had to get them cornered with this thing and make sure they couldn't get loose while he dropped whatever poor, unsuspecting, furry live lunch was on the menu for the day. GACK!

 

But, the worst was that they regularly escaped because he was THE ABSENTMINDED PROFESSOR and often left their tops aschew after feeding them. I used to pull my feet up and sit on them in my lecture seat, which was not comfortable, just to make sure I didn't get snapped from behind. It wore on my psyche. Then the inevitable happened, one of his particularly nasty ones got loose and he couldn't find it. For seven days it was loose somewhere in the science building and THE ADMINISTRATION DID NOT CANCEL CLASS. The head of environmental science, a conservationist at heart except when it came to snakes, carried a shot-gun with him wherever he went. It was a good thing too. Because if he hadn't, one of my classmates would have been dead. She came around a corner and there it was coiled and ready to strike. She screamed, dear gun-toting prof flew out of his office, and nailed it - he had scope and spent enough time at the shooting range that he was practically a sniper. Student would have been toast if it weren't for him. The school allowed dumb professor to keep those blasted things for research and NO ANTI-VENOM WAS STOCKED ON THE SCHOOL PROPERTY!!!! She never would have made it to the hospital.

 

Bio prof was furious that his snake was killed. He didn't seem to be concerned about the student. I swear this guy had several screws loose and rattling around his skull.

 

At any rate, since then, I really do have trouble...it's not just hatred...it's the occasional panic attack. I had been in that hallway, not two minutes before and never saw the evil, murderous beast. I don't know where it was, but it could have easily gotten me and so my snake phobia is rather exponential in scope now.

 

Faith

 

 

 

Faith, there is no way in this life or any other that I could have stayed in that class. I won't even walk down the aisle in the pet store where they have the snakes. No way, no how, nuh-uh!!!

[Unicorn.]

Heather, you could hire dh to teach science. He would be fine in such a situation.

 

Me, you'd find me hiding inside my house and NEVER leaving until our term was over. I mean, yeah, if your mom wanted to visit and she needed a travel companion, I would suck.it.up. (does that tell you how highly I think of you???? :seeya:) and come. But, oh my word, to find something like that in the bathroom. I would pass out and it would eat me.end.of.my.life.

 

Possibly this all stems from the fact that my college biology professor was a snake-a-holic and kept several varieties of the creatures, all of them quite venomous, in the bio room. They'd snap their heads on the glass of their cages. He'd feed them when we were there and it was so awful because they were deadly and he had to get them cornered with this thing and make sure they couldn't get loose while he dropped whatever poor, unsuspecting, furry live lunch was on the menu for the day. GACK!

 

But, the worst was that they regularly escaped because he was THE ABSENTMINDED PROFESSOR and often left their tops aschew after feeding them. I used to pull my feet up and sit on them in my lecture seat, which was not comfortable, just to make sure I didn't get snapped from behind. It wore on my psyche. Then the inevitable happened, one of his particularly nasty ones got loose and he couldn't find it. For seven days it was loose somewhere in the science building and THE ADMINISTRATION DID NOT CANCEL CLASS. The head of environmental science, a conservationist at heart except when it came to snakes, carried a shot-gun with him wherever he went. It was a good thing too. Because if he hadn't, one of my classmates would have been dead. She came around a corner and there it was coiled and ready to strike. She screamed, dear gun-toting prof flew out of his office, and nailed it - he had scope and spent enough time at the shooting range that he was practically a sniper. Student would have been toast if it weren't for him. The school allowed dumb professor to keep those blasted things for research and NO ANTI-VENOM WAS STOCKED ON THE SCHOOL PROPERTY!!!! She never would have made it to the hospital.

 

Bio prof was furious that his snake was killed. He didn't seem to be concerned about the student. I swear this guy had several screws loose and rattling around his skull.

 

At any rate, since then, I really do have trouble...it's not just hatred...it's the occasional panic attack. I had been in that hallway, not two minutes before and never saw the evil, murderous beast. I don't know where it was, but it could have easily gotten me and so my snake phobia is rather exponential in scope now.

 

Faith

:svengo: Now I'm having a panic attack. I would have flunked that class, because I would have walked out the door the second I saw those snakes! And OMG- florida has a snake hunt? You could come to TX.... there's nothing on our local news, but...well, local news. Seriously, I come here or check email to find out what's going on in the world.

[momofkhm]

Well, there goes my hopes of you moving here! Part of our staff training each year is how to use the snake venom kit in case you run into a cobra on campus. We once had one in the staff bathroom. :)

 

That's it. I'm never working there. In the bathrooom!?

[FaithManor]

 

 

Faith, there is no way in this life or any other that I could have stayed in that class. I won't even walk down the aisle in the pet store where they have the snakes. No way, no how, nuh-uh!!!

 

Let me tell you, I don't know how we did it. He was such a lunatic and those things were so scary. But, the school let him keep them and bio was a GEN ED requirement for ALL freshmen regardless of major. No one could take another science. So if we wanted to graduate, we were stuck.

 

However, after the incident, there was threat of lawsuit by said girl's parents. The one thing that did happen was that the snakes went to a research room that I think had more options for keeping escapees inside. They did depart the bio 100 room so the last two weeks of class were blissfully peaceful.

 

He retired 10 years ago. I wonder if he took his snakes home???? If so, I'd guarantee you one of them probably offed him in his sleep. He just could.not.remember. to put the lids and locks back in place after feeding them. I don't know how he lived as long as he did, but I truly doubt he lived long into retirement because he for certain would have left the tops of the cages open and bam...they'd be in his bed or something. Some student on campus started a "professor most likely to win a Darwin Award" poll. This guy won unanimously. Oh yeah, he was a bachelor and desperate for a wife. No one would have him. I don't think any of us wondered why!

 

Florida really should just set off a large incindiary device in the middle of the swamp and call it a day. I mean, they have an alligator problem, and a poisonous snake problem, and a python problem......just get.it.over.with.! :D

 

Faith

[tearose]

I have a huge snake phobia, too, and I'm amazed you got through the semester without a nervous breakdown. What a nightmare!

[FaithManor]

I have a huge snake phobia, too, and I'm amazed you got through the semester without a nervous breakdown. What a nightmare!

 

My snake phobia was very, very mild BEFORE that semester. It grew exponentially through the semester and ended with my current state of mind that is, well, virtual hysteria upon sighting!

 

Faith

[mommaduck]

At least in Guam, the only snakes we had slithering through the classrooms were rat snakes...long, but harmless...and a bit entertaining.

[unsinkable]

 

 

 

Possibly this all stems from the fact that my college biology professor was a snake-a-holic and kept several varieties of the creatures, all of them quite venomous, in the bio room. They'd snap their heads on the glass of their cages. He'd feed them when we were there and it was so awful because they were deadly and he had to get them cornered with this thing and make sure they couldn't get loose while he dropped whatever poor, unsuspecting, furry live lunch was on the menu for the day. GACK!

 

But, the worst was that they regularly escaped because he was THE ABSENTMINDED PROFESSOR and often left their tops aschew after feeding them. I used to pull my feet up and sit on them in my lecture seat, which was not comfortable, just to make sure I didn't get snapped from behind. It wore on my psyche. Then the inevitable happened, one of his particularly nasty ones got loose and he couldn't find it. For seven days it was loose somewhere in the science building and THE ADMINISTRATION DID NOT CANCEL CLASS. The head of environmental science, a conservationist at heart except when it came to snakes, carried a shot-gun with him wherever he went. It was a good thing too. Because if he hadn't, one of my classmates would have been dead. She came around a corner and there it was coiled and ready to strike. She screamed, dear gun-toting prof flew out of his office, and nailed it - he had scope and spent enough time at the shooting range that he was practically a sniper. Student would have been toast if it weren't for him. The school allowed dumb professor to keep those blasted things for research and NO ANTI-VENOM WAS STOCKED ON THE SCHOOL PROPERTY!!!! She never would have made it to the hospital.

 

Bio prof was furious that his snake was killed. He didn't seem to be concerned about the student. I swear this guy had several screws loose and rattling around his skull.

 

 

 

Faith

 

 

This sounds like a scene that was left on the cutting room floor of an Indiana Jones movie.

 

"Why'd it have to be snakes?"

 

I always wanted the scenes at Indy's college to be longer. I want to know what his life was like when he wasn't on his adventures.

[brehon]

So, two quick stories: one is family lore and the other is personal experience.

 

Family lore - my great grandmother lived outside a very small town in TX (it was the family homestead). During one visit my grandmother went to use the outhouse. She sat down, looked up, and saw a rattler coiled around the top beam. According to my mom, my grandmother screeched and ran out of the outhouse with her pants down around her ankles. My g-gma (4 foot nothing) went in there with a hoe and killed it. She was one tough cookie.

 

Professional experience: I was dispatched to a residence for a young girl with a snakebite. We pull up the same time as FD. The family is sitting on the porch and the front yard has not been mowed in approximately 20 years. Remember this is a snakebite call and we don't know where the girl was when she was bitten. Three firefighters start striding across the front yard. The lovely and talented paramedic (moi, of course) rolls down the window and yells, "Where is the snake?". Three firefighters come to a dead stop literally in mid-stride. The family and medics laugh hysterically at their predicament because they are in the center of the yard. Ah, the memories. By the way, the girl was bitten by a copperhead, but was fine.

 

 

I. Hate. Snakes.

[DragonFaerie]

I once spent 40 minutes sitting on my kitchen counter because there was a 7" garter snake in my bedroom. A friend finally arrived to remove it. He comes out of the room with this little tiny thing coiled up in his hand and just gave me this look :glare: . Still hysterical, I was half crying saying "Get.it.out.of.my.house!!!!!" I can laugh about it now but......

[beaners]

 

That's it. I'm never working there. In the bathrooom!?

 

Haven't you ever read Rikki Tikki Tavi? ;)

[Heather in Neverland]

Yep, in the bathroom. Each year we end up catching a few huge pythons on campus, some at various staff houses, etc. My dh is a pro at catching them and releasing them back into the wild. We get cobras too but so far no vipers. They stay away because they are afraid.

 

Did you see the pics I posted last year of the huge python we caught (11 feet) that had just swallowed a goose? Our HS school class dissected it!

 

Two weeks ago a huge monitor lizard (5 feet) was apparently lost and wandered into our cafeteria during lunch. That was pretty funny. I've had tarantulas in my house and a civet cat fell through the drop ceiling in one of our classrooms. And let's not forget the baseball game that was interrupted by a wild boar running around the field!

 

Interestingly enough, it's not the snakes that keep my mom away but the long plane ride. :)

 

I promise if you visit I will have the place swept for snakes before you arrive and I won't take you to the Snake Temple where pit vipers roam freely. I love you too much to be the cause of your untimely death. Or nervous breakdown.

 

By the way, did you know it is the Year of the Snake?

[FaithManor]

 

By the way, did you know it is the Year of the Snake?

 

Well, isn't.that.fitting? DD is getting married in June and she thinks snakes are wonderful.

 

GACK!

 

I cannot believe the critters you put up with! Dh sprang on me a couple of days ago that next summer, after we get back from Iceland, he's thinking of teaching a one month course at university/trade school in Uganda. They need computer professors, but unfortunately, most computer professionals can't be away from their jobs for more than at the most, three or four weeks. I asked him if he expected me to go along. "Of course!" Me: "Are there snakes." Him: "Of course!"

 

Me thinks he will be making that trip alone. The continent of Africa scares the jee willikers out of me! When I'm in the mood to encounter such wildlife, I GO TO THE ZOO!!!!! I.just.cannot.imagine. and since God has a sense of humor, it's a given that I'm going to have a snake encounter.

 

Seriously, I need to move to Ireland. Whether or not all of the snakes were removed by the efforts of St. Patrick, is of no nevermind to me. The fact is, THEY ARE GONE and it's a lot warmer than Antarctica. Ireland, here I come!

 

Faith

[mommaduck]

Yep, in the bathroom. Each year we end up catching a few huge pythons on campus, some at various staff houses, etc. My dh is a pro at catching them and releasing them back into the wild. We get cobras too but so far no vipers. They stay away because they are afraid.

 

Did you see the pics I posted last year of the huge python we caught (11 feet) that had just swallowed a goose? Our HS school class dissected it!

 

Two weeks ago a huge monitor lizard (5 feet) was apparently lost and wandered into our cafeteria during lunch. That was pretty funny. I've had tarantulas in my house and a civet cat fell through the drop ceiling in one of our classrooms. And let's not forget the baseball game that was interrupted by a wild boar running around the field!

 

Interestingly enough, it's not the snakes that keep my mom away but the long plane ride. :)

 

I promise if you visit I will have the place swept for snakes before you arrive and I won't take you to the Snake Temple where pit vipers roam freely. I love you too much to be the cause of your untimely death. Or nervous breakdown.

 

By the way, did you know it is the Year of the Snake?

The joys of island living! Have you played yo-yo with a banana spider yet?

[curlgirl]

Those are priceless stories Faith. My mother and you would get along perfectly. She calls me and tells me there's a snake on her news front page and I go read the story and re-assure that the story has nothing to do with her state. :) I told my husband that he and my brother-in-law should go hunt those next year. My sister-in-law and I'd go along for support. :)

[Joker]

I've always hated snakes, but after living in Florida for several years we've come to an understanding. I often see them in our front yard, bushes, and sun bathing on our sidewalk/driveway. They help keep the mice out of the garage. Of course, sometimes the snakes get into the garage and then I have to hurt them. They've yet to get inside the house and I really hope it stays that way. I'm also sick of the python news and have decided I never need to see or visit south Florida.

[jillian]

Snakes outside and going along their snakey business--cool fine whatever. Snakes in my home---nope no f-ing way.

[SarahW]

"The law shall prohibit news organizations from publishing pictures on the web of the Florida snake hunt as this offends the sensibilities of many good people and contributes to the decay of the moral fabric of society."

 

I'm getting scared to check the news anymore.

 

Isn't there ANYTHING happening in the world beside pythons in the Everglades????Do we care???? I mean, just nuke the place and hunting season is over.

 

 

 

 

You should try living here. Front page picture of the local paper once was of a python cut open to show its 85+ eggs inside it.

 

I suppose when there's a good chance a crocodile is living in your backyard, pythons don't look so scary?

 

Ireland is a lovely country.

[DragonFaerie]

 

 

I suppose when there's a good chance a crocodile is living in your backyard, pythons don't look so scary?

 

Ireland is a lovely country.

 

 

No, no. Crocodiles would be MUCH better than pythons. Give me a croc any day!

 

Anyone wanna join me in Ireland?

[Dory]

I'm suddenly exceptionally pleased to be living up here. No snakes, no rats, no poisonous spiders. The nastiest thing we get is mice. Really all our dangerous creatures are large and fairly easy to spot and deal with.

 

I HATE snakes and spiders with a passion.

[SunnyDays]

Coming to Ireland with you girls. I have always said I will gladly deal with the cold of the north over the critters of the warmer regions.

 

We have squirrels, bunnies, and deer in our neighborhood. No pythons or cobras (cobras?!? Really??), and no lizards or crocodiles. I'm told we have the occasional garter snake nearby. As long as I never actually see one, I can pretend that's just a mythical tale. :D

[Arcadia]

Each year we end up catching a few huge pythons on campus, some at various staff houses, etc. My dh is a pro at catching them and releasing them back into the wild. We get cobras too but so far no vipers.

 

 

Sell them to Malaysia's chinatown :) snake soup is a tonic and rather pricy.