Bravest Snake Catcher Ever!!!

[SMJ]

This is a very interesting post to me, thank you Brihaji for sharing it.

I am a very very amateur budding herpetologist with very little practical knowledge (field knowledge). However, I am etremely fortunate in that technology has allowed easy interactions with like minded people:) and am blessed to gain a lot of insights from experts in the field of herpetology. I also have a friend in Bombay who is a professional herpetologist who has worked at the Madras Crocodile farm started by Romulus Whitaker (BTW just another interesting fact- Rom used to hero worship Don Anderson, son of the great hunter from the south - Kenneth Anderson. Sadly Don passed away aged 79 in Bangalore in July 2014).

I just wanted to share something regarding these pictures of the gentlemen who is handling the king cobra.

The opinion of a lot of these leading and experienced herpetologists is that this guy Vavasuresh (that's the name he goes by) does not seem give a damn about snakes and that he is far more inclined to showing off, garnering publicity and and the number of likes his face book account gets. He apparently does not care that the majority of the herpetologists agree that his methods of handling serpents is absolutely wrong and not only endanger him, but also cause the serpents he handles immense trauma and stress. Other herpetologists in Kerala often hold meetings to interact and learn from each other - this guy apparently refuses to meet with them or acknowledge that he needs to make changes to his method in how he handles these serpents particularly as he is as a very popular figure in Kerala. He has been known to hold snake shows with complete disregard for public safety including those of children. What was most perplexing to all the experts was that his popularity was taken to be as the "right" way to do things, so surprisingly he has also been engaged on numerous occasions by the forest department to "rescue" serpents as well as to impart his "training" to the FD staff.

Of course everyone would have their own ideas but I agree every bit with the experts about his obvious mistreatment of these beautiful reptiles after having seen some of his videos and pictures!