Google "Chinese palm viper" (without the quotes), and click on images. That might be the coolest looking snake I have ever seen.

I will never understand the need of some humans to take animals out of their natural environment and cage them.

Kat: I agree. I saw a show on t.v. called "Fatal Attractions" about a man who was obsessed with venomous snakes-he had collected over 100 & kept them in these little boxes. I don't 'get' the obsession, and I don't 'get' keeping rather large snakes in little boxes and I REALLY don't 'get' keeping poisonous snakes in a trailer with children????? (needless to say the man was killed by one of the snakes)

If you were striving to inject something juvenile and inane into the discussion, Beast, you certaunly succeeded!

And there it is...another goon tying this to a political agenda. I guess we all need our town idiots.

Why 24 little venomous snakes? Why not a single 16 foot Boa constrictor to squeeze the sheet out of him!

Coral snakes in FL.

Eastern and pygmy rattlesnakes. Just don't lay or play in the grass down here without a machete.

Wasn't there a horror movie from the '70's about this? It was called SSSSS! I'm not kidding. The tag line was "Hiss it - don't say it."

I will never understand people who deny evolution. I mean, here it is, plain as day, in action. This dude, is irrefutable proof, that Darwin was correct.

Damn, you took my comment, Lol.

Is there any intelligent life left on this planet?

sounds more like a bad CSI episode than anything else

Suicide?

Dr. Ruddy Rose? What's his wife's name.....Ramblin' ?

I hate stories like this, now Ill have to check under the covers tonight before I get in bed.

musta been one of those snake charmin christians, he took up the snake and then lost his faith

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)

They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

If you don't handle snakes and drink poison you're going to hell! God said so!!!!

Darwin Award

Dabbling in Darwinism rarely ends well for members of any species, but especially for humans who fancy themselves above natural selection. Mother Nature insists on always being right.

Dammit Goldie, you beat me to it! :)

He was 70 years old - WAY too old for this award. Natural selection only works if it prevents reproduction.

rkaralius, men remain fertile (barring pre-existing problems...or maybe ED). No menopause like in women. So, still a Darwin award potential candidate.

I agree with Calingaladha. Men continue to produce sperm until the day they die where as women develop eggs until menopause when the ovaries can no longer produce the eggs. Ovaries do have an expiration date on production. Once those eggs are gone, women undergo menopause so they are no longer fertile anymore. Therefore, the man is a candidate for the Darwin Award.

Calingaladha

rkaralius, men remain fertile (barring pre-existing problems...or maybe ED). No menopause like in women. So, still a Darwin award potential candidate.

Unless it's a legitimate rape. Just ask white GOP guys.

Me too. Post 1.20

Why? The snakes didn't do anything wrong. It's not like they broke into his house and set up shop. They're there very much against their will, I assure you. That'd be like executing a terrified-for-his/her-life kidnapping victim for killing his/her abductor in self-defense.

There is no reason to euthanize the snakes. Can you justify the destruction of 24 snakes? Authorities would have an easier time finding reptile houses and zoos that would take the snakes than justifying reasons to kill them.

I dislike snakes, but no reason to kill them. It is his stupidity that this happened, not theirs. Let the snakes live.

Why not just let the damn things go so they can kill mice, rats, barking dogs, cats, etc.

Pretty thin assumption you got there. How do you figure it was an assisted suicide situation? It's okay, I'll wait as you compile your evidence.

MBinCoeur..................those were my thoughts. Why did she wait to call. How long a period of time was it? He was battling cancer and receiving chemo, so he may have selected the final solution.

Merely a theory. Took a few little tid-bits from the story and bam! A Sherlock Holmes moment.

MBinCoeur,

That's exactly what I was thinking and no, State of Awareness, I have no evidence.

I would think that someone with that many dangerous snakes probably knew how to safely handle them. He was not young and had cancer. Perhaps he has watched too many friends and/or relatives succumb to cancer and chose his own way out.

I have a hard time believing that his wife waited so long to call 911. I wouldn't rule that theory out, but it sounds more like she wasn't aware of what had happened until she went to check on him. And considering the guy had medical problems and was taking medication, if you factor in the venom in you could have a situation where the effects of the venom, medication and his own health may have quickened his death. I don't think many have done research to study the quick effects of how venom interacts with medication and a person who is already weak due to age and health issues, but medication combination with the venom may have increased the speed of death. It's one of those things that needs to be looked at as a possibility.

State of Awareness,

Thanks for playing Watson in my theory! Maybe he knew there would be an adverse affect.

I seriously doubt he knew there would be an effect since there isn't a lot of research out there to know how venom and medications would cause such a reaction. Considering he had 24 different species, each venom would have an odd effect with whatever medication he was taking. In this case it was a Chinese Palm Viper's venom. Per wikipedia, it has a potent hemotoxin. The wound usually feels extremely painful, as if it had been branded with a hot iron, and the pain does not subside until about 24 hours after being bitten. Within a few minutes of being bitten, the surrounding flesh dies and turns black, highlighting the puncture wounds. The wound site quickly swells, and the skin and muscle become black due to necrosis. The size of the necrotic area depends on the amount of venom injected and the depth of the bite. So unless research is done on how this snake's venom interacts with the medications this guy was on, it's hard to state that he knew what would happen.

I doubt there is much insurance in place for a man who suffered from prostate cancer, so if this was suicide that is probably not the reason.

The problem is, there was no mention of suicide in the article. Granted not all the information is there, but investigators did not mention that suicide was a possibility nor did they state that it looked like the man tried to commit suicide via snakebite. Especially by snake venom that would take a long time to die from compared to other venoms out there that would be quicker. It should also be noted that the man was bit on his finger. He could have gotten bitten while sticking his hand in the enclosure. If the man wanted to have a quick suicide (as most people do, either quick or painless), he would have had the snake bite him some place else where the venom would travel more quickly to the heart, like a major artery. Since the man had 24 venomous snakes, I am willing to bet that there would have been a snake in his possession that had venom with a quicker reaction than the Chinese Palm Viper.

As far as the collection on an insurance policy by the wife, again this was not stated in the article nor hinted at. It's another thing you are gonna have to wait on, but I'm willing to bet that this woman probably had no clue as to what was happening until she saw her husband or he thought he had things under control until he started having complications.

He was killed by a snake he owned illegally. No life insurance company will pay for death incurred during the commission of a crime.

It wasn't Slinky that got him, it was Bitey.

It was Slithers.

The guy wasn't trying to domesticate them. The article states that he was an amature naturalist (One versed in natural history, especially in zoology or botany). I'm pretty sure he was not trying to teach these snakes to have a similar use that livestock, cats or dogs have. The man essentially had his own reptile house filled with snake species he found fascinating.

Almost correct, but poison can also be delivered on contact.

Yes, Justin, but was he weraing his safety glasses?

That or like the article says, he was an amateur naturalist. Essentially, he was interested in venoms snakes and kept them despite the ordinance in place.

I do agree, many animals should be left out in the wild, but keep in mind that many zoos and reptile houses have other services than having a place for people to learn and see animals they normally wouldn't in their every day lives. Most of these certified facilities participate in breeding programs for conservational reasons. People don't have a right, however, to have their own personal reptile house or zoo when they are neither qualified or in violation of laws and ordinances for the public safety. It's one thing if you are certified to handle such responsibilities with these animals, it's another to be ignorant and put yourself and others in danger because you are a fanatic.

I'm mixed on the zoo issue. My common sense says that animals evolve, become extinct and new species come along all of the time to replace species that couldn't adapt to the world as it is now. Zoos artificially stepping in to stop what happens naturally is controversial to me. People forget that we are also animals that can become extinct right along everything else. It is in our interest to make the world as cozy as possible for all life, then step aside and let mother nature do her thing. With technology evoling so fast, how long until someone can make a "virtual" zoo by using a webcam say in Africa and then making a 3-d hologram "zoo". I think someday things like this can be real time and could look very realistic.

Own and feed venomous snakes? Own pit bulls feed em they kill ure baby?your mom, your gandpa? sky dive your chute does not open? climb Everest want to be rescued? Why is this news? no compassion, no feeling but for ignorance and stupidity and mostly no support.

Dave don't get baited in by these racist bigot minded statements. These people on here are cowards, and those kind of jokes only get said in safe places. lol Just smile.