Cops seize snakes, owner having bitten fingers amputated

[Mugu]

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky man wasn’t around when officers seized reptiles from his home. That’s because he was at a hospital having fingers amputated after a snakebite, his wife says.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources seized seven rattlesnakes, a gaboon viper, a king cobra, an iguana, two monitor lizards, two alligators, a boa constrictor and a python.

The 36-year-old Campbellsville man faces 15 counts of transporting wildlife into Kentucky without a transportation permit and 10 counts of possessing inherently dangerous animals.


http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2008/04/01/5162756-ap.html

[MonkeyFunk]

1. I was born a snake-handler

and I'll die a snake-handler.

[Botany]

2. A gaboon viper?

From Wiki

In humans, a bite causes rapid and conspicuous swelling, intense pain, severe shock and local blistering. Other symptoms may include uncoordinated movements, defecation, urination, swelling of the tongue and eyelids, convulsions and unconsciousness. Blistering, bruising and necrosis may be extensive. There may be sudden hypotension, heart damage and dyspnoea.
The blood may become incoagulable with internal bleeding that may lead to haematuria and haematemesis. Local tissue damage may require surgical excision and possibly amputation. Healing may be slow and fatalities are not uncommon.

Nice pet!

[Catch22Dem]

3. Wow!

You have to admit, that's a pretty amazing creature, isn't it? Only an ignoramous would keep it as a pet, but amazing nonetheless.

[Botany]

4. I never got the reptiles as pets thing

O.K. Some turtles in a pond fine ... but they (reptiles) are not nice
.... not so much on the "tricks" and some grew big enough
that they can really hurt you or a pet.

I knew a guy who had a gator as a pet .... it smelled and
was not having a good gator life either.

I kinda like my black lab.

[Withywindle]

6. I think snakes are beautiful

and I like the way they move. I've held them and they feel really neat. Not like anything else in the world.

I would never ever keep a poisonous one as a pet, though. WTF? Darwin award waiting to happen.

[Botany]

8. The big constrictors don't make good pets either

Sooner or later they get real big and try to crush things.

Although I would love a pond w/ some big snapping turtles.

[Withywindle]

10. Yeah, no pets that can break my bones, thanks.

Those snapping turtles are awesome to look at, but I wouldn't want to snuggle up in bed with one.


Ironically, just as I was reading your post, my cute fluffy little cat took a big chomp on my arm. (She means no harm but she plays rough.) If she had venom, I might not be alive to write this one.

[Mugu]

12. I have a pond with snappers.

I don't fault them, they're just making their way in the world using the hand dealt them. But, to the ignorant they can be a problem.

Edit to add: This is a medium sized (15" from front of shell to back of shell) female laying eggs. She only wanted to be left alone.
Regards, Mugu

[kestrel91316]

14. Them big ol' snappers can take a hand plumb off.

[kestrel91316]

13. Nonvenomous snakes make interesting pets. Venomous, not so much.

[Tesha]

16. I always enjoy seeing the garter snakes in the yard.

One day, though, one slithered out from between the nice
warm rocks and lifted up its head just as Mr. Tesha
rolled by with the lawn mower; that wasn't quite so
nice as most of our experiences with the snakes.

Tesha

[Catch22Dem]

15. I adore my black lab as well

:D

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Well I guess a patient of mine moved to KY... or KY has crazies too

many years ago we were called to home of idiot who had many cute critters, including a King Cobra.

Now, if the cobra was in his\her cage I'd not have cared THAT MUCH. Nope... nothing funnier, really, than seeing the hood go open, mouth show fangs and head bob back and forth...

Yep, that was lots of shits and giggles.

Good for the Department and yes, he should be at least fined

There are some animals that are not good pets..,. and King Cobras fall in that category.

Oh and our idiot lived... and the snakes found a new home at the local zoo...

[malakai2]

7. So which are the 10 inherently dangerous animals?

Unless the rattlesnakes, gaboon viper, or cobra were de-fanged, that would be nine. Two alligators would seem to make it eleven, unless they were small or lumped as a single count. Depending on the species of monitor-a seven foot nile monitor or water monitor could be dangerous-that could be two more. Maybe not if they were small monitor species, but I highly doubt the DFWR officers are intimately familiar with varanid lizards. And then, depending how the law is written, large constrictors like boas and especially certain pythons sometimes fall into the dangerous designation.

I suppose he's lucky he's not facing 15 charges of possessing inherently dangerous animals. Then again, I wonder how the foundation behind that law works. Most of the ordinances I've seen that sound similar to this one list a bunch of things that are already illegal to own under the Endangered Species Act, or they list things that are quite obviously not practical pets (lions, tigers, bears, etc.), but then they'll say something stupid like "constricting snakes," or "fanged snakes," or "large lizards."

At the same time, I wonder if any of the rattlesnakes are species native to Kentucky. It's also possible some of the other critters could have been obtained from a captive breeder based in Kentucky, or from a third party that did the transporting prior to establishing a sale. Maybe given his taste his rattlesnake collection did consist of things like Mojave rattlesnakes and the tropical species (i.e., rare and more dangerous), but maybe not. If not, a good lawyer with some attention to detail could help this guy.

[kineneb]

9. working towards his Darwin Award

doggone it...now he won't have a chance...

[orleans]

11. what an asshole. n/t