I seen all too often ( and i believe Steve Irwin, rest his soul) started this type of content, can i say stupid? Because stupidity is knowing better but acting in spite of it.
Recently i have seen very stupid people live handling venomous snakes and just now i saw an idiot doing a “gender reveal” using his rattlesnake bitting a balloon he was holding in his mouth. Guys like this not only give us responsible keepers a bad name, but they also get people scared to make legislation against our pets. I mean does this guy want to grow up to see his child grow up? Its not a matter of if he will get bit but when. I watched one video where one guy grabbed a krate and then he came upon a viper and he says " i poked it with a stick, and then he bit me" like really genius you dont say. I never handle any of my inverts, i never let anyone else even have access, i dont show them to friends and im not gonna dig them from their hidesto show them off, i simply tell them if they are out and about you can look through the glass otherwise nope.
Does anyone else get really frustrated by people that do this? I get it they like animals but you have to be smart and safe and also educate people on just how dangerous they can be, not just go pick up a rattler etc.
Oh, it’s not just you. I’m pretty sure idiocy annoys EVERY responsible keeper. And I’m not sure that a lot of the idiots really like animals. They like attention, even notoriety. The animals seem more like props, just means to an end. It’s infuriating, frustrating, and sad, all at the same time.
It depends. There are right ways and wrong ways for everything. I believe Steve Irwin was the right way. He was extremely educational, and i doubt there are many more knowledgeable than he was about the animals he was handling. He knew the risks and i guarantee had a paramedic crew behind the scenes with plenty of antivenom for the species he was dealing with. He wasnt shy about telling the dangers of the animals he handled, but emphasized that if they were respected and left alone, that humans would never be bothered by them. The man was a pillar for conservation and the world felt his loss.
Now, on the other side of the coin, i will say he opened the door for some… less experienced / smart people to create content purely for the entertainment value. I can almost gaurantee the creators now adays arent taking the same precautions and highly doubt they have the same experience of dealing with the species in the wild and knowing their body language, temperments, habbits, etc. They just want to get viewers and reactions. It isnt about the animals, nor about education. This i consider to be the wrong way. This is why USARK has to constantly fight to keep our rights and ability to keep these animals. These people teach that the animals are dangerous toys, not that they are independent living creatures deserving of respect, not fear.
Edit: I do want to say, this doesnt mean there arent good content creators today, only that i agree there are bad ones that are making life harder for the rest of us.
Very well said. And I certainly didn’t mean to include Steve Irwin himself in my critique. I had a great deal of respect and appreciation for him and for the manner in which he did things. Not so much for the majority of what I am seeing now.
The mistskes and mishaps definitely make things harder for the rest of us. I’m so thankful for the ambassadorship of everyone who does education and outreach for exotics, and deeply grateful for the vital work of USARK!
I didn’t intend to imply Steve Irwin was an idiot, i was trying to say he pioneered content creation that others want to immitate but they are careless. Their lax attitudes make all of us look bad, as humans tend to lump everyone together they don’t take the time to single out the individual.
Many only interested in fame so their attention is focused more on the cameras instead of the animals. You truly cannot practice strict safety if your attention is divided, as these animals especially need 100% attention. Animals can at times be unexpectedly different than than their personalities normally are. Heck even my kitty who loves me can flip out. I have learned a few times that whatever scent i may have changes her typical behavior.
So again i didn’t intend to disparrage Steve Irwin, i loved his shows and i learned a lot about animals that you dont quite get from reading about them. I apologize if my words seemed to imply that he was an idiot, that wasn’t my intention. My ire is for the people who do stupid careless stuff with deadly serious animals such as kissing a venomous snake etc. I know tons of us are great keepers.
No worries at all, I figured you had intended it in a manner of steve irwins content opened doors, not so much that he was a key offender. I just wanted to state my agreement, but make the distinction between the two very clear. At its face, it could be argued Steve did the same thing by free handling hots, jumping on aligators, etc. But intent and knowledge matters. He jumped on gators to save them as a conservation advocate that worked for a zoo. He took the risks he did to show that while dangerous, they werent monsters.
Now adays content creators pump up the danger factor and make it look like the animals are killers and look how brave i am.
I get your point very clearly, alot todays creators do not have the animals well being at heart and are an absolute detriment to the hobby.
Imo