WEBVTT - Selects: How Snake Handlers Work 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:03.560 Hey, everybody, it's me Josh, and for this week's s 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:07.400 Y s K Selects, I've chosen How Snake Handlers Work. 0:00:07.880 --> 0:00:12.040 It's a really truly fascinating episode that you might have overlooked. 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:14.800 And you know, we talk a lot about Christian snake handling, 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:17.439 but we also talk about people who handle snakes for 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.720 fun or because it's their job. There's a lot of 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:24.400 people who handle snakes weirdly. So kick back and enjoy 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:27.600 this episode from May of two thousand and sixteen, How 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:35.000 Sneake Handlers Work. Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:44.160 production of I Heart Radio. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:46.800 I'm Josh Clark, and there's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, and 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:50.479 there's Jerry over there. And my hair is now a 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:55.280 fourth character. Laughed at my hair. Everybody, Well, its my 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:58.080 beard can be the fourth character. Your hair could be 0:00:58.120 --> 0:01:02.040 the fifth. Oh really, yeah, we need Actually, Jerry's got 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:06.160 great hair. She does have nice here stylish salt and 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:12.240 pepper Amy Goodman level tasteful salt and pepper. I'm not 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:14.800 sure what that means, Amy Goodman from Democracy. Now it's 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:18.320 very tasteful salt and pepper hair. Maybe that's the thing. 0:01:19.400 --> 0:01:22.520 It is clearly between Jerry and Amy Goodman. It's the 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:27.440 thing that beats shoe polished black. Yeah, you know, like 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:32.720 trickling down your forehead. Yeah, but do what makes you happy? 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:35.679 You know? Well sure if you don't, whatever makes you 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:39.080 feel good, Yeah I should, Uh, I should get some 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:42.720 of that beer blacken her and coming into my beard 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:45.200 and come in with like that jet black Beard and 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:48.240 Clyde Drexeler will show up at your house. Urge you one. 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:55.960 But isn't he in the ads? Yeah? Really? Former Portland Trailblazer. Great, Yeah, 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:59.640 I'm pretty sure it's Clyde Drexler. Wow, I think that 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:02.200 did you picked this out? It's him? And who was 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:04.440 the one? I think Keith Hernandez. I was gonna say 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:06.720 the one that Kramer spit on or that got spit 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:10.800 that spit on Kramer. I think it's Keith Hernandez and 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:15.480 Clyde Drexler in the just for Men commercial. Well, those 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:18.440 are freed package are just for men coming our way now, 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:24.160 which we should say thanks again again to Crown Royal. Man, 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:26.359 you say you like Crown Royal, they send you something, 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:27.840 you say, you drank it, and they send you more. 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:29.840 I know, it's pretty awesome. I'm brushing my teeth with 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:32.720 this stuff. Now my lifestyle is improved for the better. 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:39.200 Pretty neat. Thank you dudes. Uh So, I was just 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:41.600 discussing before we record it. I said, it's going to 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:46.480 be hard to record a show on snake handling, and 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:50.960 I'm talking about the religious aspect of it without sort 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:54.480 of like I fear for their safety. And I want 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:57.000 to say, you people are crazy. A lot of people do, 0:02:57.280 --> 0:03:00.240 but um, we have a long standing tradition of like 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:02.960 to each their own. I just you know, I hate 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:07.120 seeing people die from doing something completely preventable. Yeah, you 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:10.320 definitely do. But handling rattlesnakes and kissing them on the face. 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:13.000 From from what I've seen of this or from what 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:17.760 I've researched, I've not actually seen somebody handle snakes in person. Um, 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:22.040 but from what I've researched, the people who handle snakes 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:28.680 are doing it through total and complete faith. And uh 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:32.200 there's even if you did judge them, I think it 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:34.040 kind of rolls off their back quite a bit. So 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:38.560 it's not so much judgment. It's just like, no, it's 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:40.960 not I'm telling you, this is this? What is it? 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:46.400 My opinion, and I'm judging your opinion. Oh that's what 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:49.360 you meant by its judgment. No, okay, now it's not judgment. 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:52.400 I just I hate seeing people get hurt, Nina, uh 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:55.240 and die. Have you ever seen somebody handle snakes? I 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:59.840 had a religious upbringing. Well, yeah, this is rare though. 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:03.920 This is yeah, it is Appalachian foothills stuff. Yeah, I know, 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:07.000 but I mean, like Atlanta, we're in Georgia. I didn't 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:08.840 know if you ever took like a field trip or 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:12.200 something there. That's you have no idea how church works 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:17.120 that there are a lot of field trips. In fact, 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:20.400 you don't go to other churches. You're not supposed to 0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:23.440 do that. Oh really, yeah, he stay at your own church. 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:26.640 You don't go on field trips to other churches. Aren't 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:30.520 there like inter faith banquets and stuff like that. Yeah, 0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:32.440 we had a field day all right, with all the 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:37.719 churches in the county. Now, I suppose other churches get 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:40.840 together with as suppose to him getting together with other churches. 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:43.560 But that wasn't my experience. Typically frowned on in New York. 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:45.080 But you just keep it in the house. Although we 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:48.479 would go to the big youth conferences all sorts of 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:51.280 youth groups together. That's the field trip. Yeah, I'll just 0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:55.039 kids thrown in the big gymnasiums, struggling to fight their 0:04:55.160 --> 0:05:01.400 hormonal urges, going you believe what? So No, I've never 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:03.440 done it. I didn't ask if you've done it. I 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:07.039 need I've never witnessed it. I've never been anywhere near it. Okay, 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:09.880 although I I have a strange feeling, Chuck, that it's 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:12.480 possible we've both been near it, just from living in 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:15.920 Georgia all these years, you think without knowing it. Because yeah, 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:21.400 people who handle snakes UM religiously. It's actually called um 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:26.599 holiness serpent handling. Is that correct? Uh? Yeah, they say 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:29.479 serpent instead of snake. Yeah, and it has to be 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:32.479 a venomous snake to be considered a serpent. But for 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:37.279 holiness serpent handling UM. Until two thousand fourteen, it was. 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:40.280 They kept a pretty tight lid on it for many, 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:43.960 many decades. Who the handlers, Yeah, the people who um 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:47.640 who practice this as part of their religious beliefs. Yeah, 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:50.240 and I think still even most of them are pretty 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:54.560 media shy. You'll see the occasional interview. When someone dies, 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:57.039 they'll go knocking on the doors and they'll give an 0:05:57.080 --> 0:05:59.120 interview to explain like why they do what they do. 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:01.440 But of so, it was that TV show, which really, 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:04.320 I mean, you know you're clearly not media show if 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:06.560 you're doing a reality show. No, it's It was called 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:10.200 Snake Salvation and sorry not two four two thirteen. It 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:12.960 was on nat g O and it was all about 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:18.360 snake handling for religious reasons. And um, one of the 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:21.040 main guys on the show ended up dying. He didn't 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:23.400 die on the show, but he died the next year 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:26.960 from a rattlesnake bite after it went off the air. Yeah, 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:29.240 it was only on for one season. But his name 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:32.120 was Pasty Pastor Jamie Coots, and he and another guy 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:38.360 um named I believe Steven Amblen are They are holiness 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:43.240 serpent handlers who believe in kind of bringing it out 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:48.080 of the shadows and into the Christian mainstream. Good luck. Yeah, 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:50.239 if you're if you're at all interested in that concept, 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:53.000 you should read even on to Death. It was in 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:56.440 the Chattanooga Free Press. It's a pretty good examination of 0:06:56.480 --> 0:06:59.240 that whole movement and those guys in particular. I guess 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:02.120 we should talk a little little bit about other kinds 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:05.600 of snake handling first though, Yeah, because when you see 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:08.880 snake hangler, I'm sure when people saw this the title 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:12.320 of this episode, they just assume we're talking strictly about um, 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:16.080 really is a snake handling now, like other people handle 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:20.880 snakes as well, like professional non religious settings. They're called 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:24.560 herpetologists or some of them are. These are actually people 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:28.080 who study snakes and amphibians, reptiles, and we talked about 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:30.480 them on our Snake Show, and I think we dispelled 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:34.200 a lot of rumors, uh, not rumors, but myths on 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:37.680 the Snake Show which come into play when handling snakes, 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.960 namely that they aren't out to kill you. Um, But 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:45.560 we'll get to that later. But people display snakes, well, 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:47.720 there's a few different categories of people who handle snakes. 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:50.720 There's people who display them Like you drive through Florida, 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:53.960 you might see like a snake and gator farm where 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:56.280 they do snake shows. And there's a really famous guy 0:07:56.320 --> 0:07:58.080 we'll talk about a little more in depth named Bill 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:01.720 Host who was like the man when it comes to that, 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:06.720 let's see. Yeah, uh, And then there are um, there 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:09.880 are people, there are snake milkers. Of course, there's veterinarians 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.920 who care for your snakes. Yeah, which I mean they 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:17.400 have to handle snakes. Um, there's also rescuing and recovery people. 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:20.760 Who gets a snake in my basement? Right? A guy 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:24.960 will show up and um, most likely he's professionally trained. 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:26.760 At the very least, you would hope that he has 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:30.680 a tremendous amount of experience in handling snakes. Yeah. And 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:32.600 they will show up and you'll say how much does 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:34.120 it cost to get the snake out of my basement? 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:37.240 And they'll say how much you got? I'd like to 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:40.839 see your last three bank account statements please, Um. And 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:44.200 in those cases they will probably you'll probably see what's 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:48.240 called an extension tool. Um, if you've ever seen those tongs? 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:50.480 Are those long uh they call it a snake cook 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:55.800 sort of a just a long metal not a PROD 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:59.600 because they're not product. Senior adults use it to grab 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:03.720 can ends off of the high shelves in their homes. Yeah, 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:06.400 it's like that sort of I haven't seen them that 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:11.880 actually flex and grab. Yeah. Okay, if you get some money, 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:14.480 you're gonna spend it on that. The ones i've seen 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:16.840 are just have a flat uh you know, it's a 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:19.800 long pole and then it has like an L shaped uh, 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:22.079 you know, at a right angle flat piece coming off 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:26.000 that they pin the snake with. UM. I've read this 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:29.880 thing about handling snakes safely for like just normal people 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:32.640 or people who are starting out in the rescue and 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:36.559 recovery business. UM, And you can use just about anything. 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:40.959 The key is extension. You want to put distance between 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:43.160 you and the snake. And I want to say, as 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:46.800 a legal disclaimer, I'm not at all advising anybody to 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:50.920 handle a snake, but what I read was that you 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:53.719 want to put as much distance as possible. So if 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:57.040 you have a garden tool and a long one, use that. 0:09:57.559 --> 0:10:00.520 But you also would want to use say you have 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:02.880 a hope, you would want to turn your whole upside 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:07.559 down and use these just the wooden end to manipulate 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:09.160 the snake because you don't want to hurt the snake. 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:11.800 I just want to get rid of it, right. I 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:14.360 relocated a snake from my backyard a couple of years ago. 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:17.760 What did you use? I use my hands. Oh my god. 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:21.800 It wasn't big. It was, but it wasn't small. So 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:27.520 how did you describe this interaction? UM? I was cutting 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:29.120 the grass and I saw the snake. It was about 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:32.040 a foot long. Did you positively identify it as non 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:35.240 lethal or non venomous? Yeah, it was pretty Yeah, it 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:38.800 was definitely not well. Actually, it had the markings where 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:41.720 it could have been a copper head. It wasn't just 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:43.600 just like a green snake, right, So you took a 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:46.600 shot of whiskey and approached it. I approached it, and 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:51.000 I did use an implement to um pin it, but 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:53.520 I can't remember what I used. It was something, you know, 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:57.560 blunt and soft. It wasn't, you know, an accent, you know, 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:00.120 head right, because like you said, it was in the 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:03.520 cinder block. You're dropping, Like what did I use? It was? 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:08.040 I can't remember. Let's just say like a wooden paddle. 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:11.920 It might have been a piece of wood actually. And 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:13.960 then I did like I saw in the TV shows. 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:16.720 I grabbed it behind the you know, right behind its head, 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:19.600 got a good hold of it and picked it up 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:24.320 and it wrapped around my wrist and I went and 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:26.560 then I ran across the street like pee wee herman. 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:30.160 Then threw it in the wood. Didn't throw it. I 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:33.120 laid it down in the woods, put it into the wood, 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:36.120 and it was great. I think it was a successful 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:39.240 catch and release. It sounds like it you weren't bitten. Yeah, 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:42.719 and I don't. I don't. I'm sure I didn't hurt 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:45.840 the snake. Good. Yeah, that sounds pretty successful. What I 0:11:45.880 --> 0:11:48.960 was reading in this one um article was that you 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:54.560 most snakes if you just approached them calmly. Um, and 0:11:57.240 --> 0:11:59.880 I guess smoothly is a good way to put it. Sure, 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:02.520 don't lunge at the snake, right, and also don't be like, 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:04.720 oh my god, oh we're good. Right, just kind of 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:06.400 come at the snake and pick it up like it's 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:10.280 just a stick in your yard. It's probably not going 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:14.160 to strike you, supposedly according to this website, of which 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:17.240 I have no affiliation whatsoever. Yeah, and I'm not my story. 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:19.960 Please do not take that as a That was probably 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:23.240 pretty dumb for me to do that. Yeah, you know, 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:26.160 and even if it's non I didn't want it. I 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:28.680 don't want to get bitten by a snake. I don't 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.760 care if it's venomous or not. One of my biggest 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:35.520 fears is seeing a snake attach its mouth to my body. 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:38.720 It frightens me. Well, I have to say. Also, this 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:43.000 site put pretty plainly, do not ever touch a snake 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:48.000 that you haven't positively identified as non venomous, because yeah, 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:50.440 I mean if you you could have easily been bitten 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:53.120 and lost your hand or whatever it was, well, no, 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:56.160 I could have get in the hospital pretty quickly. Yeah, 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:58.840 I mean if you're you know, anti, then it works 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:02.920 apparently a hundred percent of the time if it's gotten 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:06.400 to in a timely manner. Yes, and for the pedants 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:09.760 out there, we will say anti venom and anti venom 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:12.560 because both are acceptable. Yes, they are alright, So chuck, 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:33.679 let's take a break right here. Huh it sounds good. Okay. 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:37.679 Did I say how how far a snake can strike? No? 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:39.880 Do you know? Uh? But this is what I've got 0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:43.560 from the same the same place that said just go 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:47.480 smoothly and casually up to a snake, introduce yourself. Uh. 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:50.160 It says that any snake greater than four ft can 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:53.880 typically strike about one third to one half the distance 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:56.960 of its body length. That's a good rule of thumb. Yeah. Um, 0:13:57.000 --> 0:14:00.000 a snake between one and three feet can strike about 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:03.080 out one half to two thirds its body length, and 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:06.839 then a snake underfoot can usually strike about its whole 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:09.280 body length. Okay, I would take all those numbers and 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:12.240 double them. It's probably a good idea, just to be safe. Yeah, 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:14.440 of course I'm the guy who you know picked up 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:19.040 maybe a copper head, right man, that scary stuff. You 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:21.280 do the same thing. You don't want to pay a guy? 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:25.880 Um uh you probably I would do with this with 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:28.320 this site. What this site was saying was made a 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:30.080 lot of sense to me, is like take a take 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:32.760 a garbage can, tip it over on its side, take 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:35.840 a shovel, use the wooden end of it, the handle it, 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:37.960 and just kind of get it into the can, turn 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:40.640 it over, put like something on top of the can 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:43.240 and then call somebody. Or you could take the candy 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:46.800 um like the woods or something that That's probably what 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:49.560 I should have done. In retrospect, I was feeling brave. 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:52.320 It was like those shots of whiskey, Like I watched 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:56.440 enough Nature TV. All right, I know how this is done. Um. 0:14:56.560 --> 0:14:59.080 So the last thing that I think we didn't mention 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:06.400 is snake milkers, which snake venom is very valuable. Um 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:08.920 one gram. What you do is you freeze dry it 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:11.800 into a powder. After you get the liquid, and you 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:16.280 sell it to research labs big money. Yeah, one gram 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:19.640 a freeze dried venom from an exotic snake is can 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:22.440 go up to five grand, but it might take a 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:27.480 hundred milkings to get that much. So do the math. Yeah, 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:30.920 is it worth it, especially if you love hanging out 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:33.760 with snakes and it's a legit job. You can make 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:36.800 you know, bucks a month or more as a snake 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:41.400 milker easily, depending on how many snakes you have. That's right. Um. 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:44.960 So there are a lot of people that handle snakes, 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:47.480 but all of them, well, I should say all of 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:50.440 the people who professionally handle snakes have a rule of thumb, 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:54.960 which is don't get hurt, don't be stupid, because there 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:58.280 are two ways that snakes can typically get you Venomous 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:03.000 snakes obviously injected venom, and that's why people milk snakes 0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:04.920 is to get that venom so that they can create 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:08.840 anti venom um so that your life can be saved 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:12.080 if you end up getting bit by a snake. Right, um, 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:14.600 and venom is pretty nasty stuff. I think we did 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:18.160 one on like what's the most poisonous animal in the world? 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:21.960 That sounds familiar, and we talked a lot about venom, 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:25.600 but it's worth revisiting. Basically, depending on the venom that 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:29.400 you're injected with. It can cause tissue damage wherever it's spread. 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:33.120 And by tissue damage, I mean just completely wipe out 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:36.080 your tissue. And if that is blood vessels, your blood 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:38.600 vessels bleed and you start bleeding internally. If it's a 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:42.160 your liver or your heart, those things start bleeding internally 0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:45.120 and end up shutting down. You can have multi system, 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:51.680 multi organ failure, paralysis, respiratory um distress, all sorts of 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:54.520 horrible stuff. If it's on a limb or digit, you 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:56.880 might lose that even if you get the anti venomom 0:16:57.000 --> 0:17:00.560 time exactly because it's so thoroughly destroys the issue, right, 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:02.920 that's right. And it causes a lot of pain too. 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:06.080 Like I was reading about the Texas coral snake, it 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:12.880 actually has this um molecule that opens your the gates 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:16.959 to your pain receptors and just hold them open so 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:21.959 that you're just feeling excruciating, unremitting pain. So it's bad stuff. 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:24.160 So you don't want to get bitten by a snake. 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:27.320 You also don't want to mess around with constrictors either, 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:30.800 because they will mess you up as well. Yeah, they will, 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:36.359 I guess, wrap around you and then suffocates, you break 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:40.640 your back, stop your heart. It's big enough. Bad news, 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:44.560 bad news. So snakes can be dangerous is the point. Yes, 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:50.080 but again not to feed into that anti snake I'm 0:17:50.119 --> 0:17:56.600 not trying to start a whacking no. Um. So getting 0:17:56.600 --> 0:18:00.480 back to the milkers, Oh yes, sorry, they are what's 0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:03.560 called free handlers. They don't use You would think like 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:08.240 they should just wear anti snake gloves. Um, But you 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:10.399 need to really feel the snake. Um. I read an 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:14.000 interview with a guy that milked snakes for living and 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:17.680 he's like, no, you gotta feel with your skin. The 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:20.359 snakes are really fast, and you know you have to 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:24.000 react and adjust to every little movement they make. And 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:26.320 even wearing a glove, even a thin glove, I think 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:29.719 glove wouldn't help anyway, but a chain mail glove, kevlar 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:32.200 glove would not. You wouldn't be able to feel what's 0:18:32.200 --> 0:18:36.600 going on anyway. Incidentally, like crush the snake's head. They're 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:39.840 not exactly made of kevlar themselves, that's true. So when 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:42.439 you're milking a snake, when you're free handling it, you 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:45.359 basically want to hold it the way you did behind 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:48.240 the head, right where the jaws meet using your thumb 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:52.640 and fore finger. Yes, that is correct, and that does 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:56.600 two things. That keeps the head um from turning on you. 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:01.080 And um, it puts your fingers on the in your 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:03.919 thumb on those venom glands, which is what they you know, 0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:06.520 they just kind of massage it. Uh. You can also 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:12.560 use electric stimulant, electrical stimulation, but the traditional way is 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:15.080 to just just get a little squeeze and it'll milk 0:19:15.119 --> 0:19:18.120 those little glands. Right. But first, before you start squeezing, 0:19:18.119 --> 0:19:21.160 you want to basically take the fangs, the front fang. 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:24.400 You're not like spraying her on the room into your hand. 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:30.080 You put their fangs through a membrane on that's pulled 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:33.400 over a jar, and then the venom just pumps out 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:35.919 of the fangs into the jar. It's really neat looking. 0:19:36.200 --> 0:19:41.680 It is looking. It is man agreed. Uh. And they 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:44.760 recommend that if you are milking, if you're a professional milker, 0:19:45.119 --> 0:19:47.680 you should have a little buddy with you. Okay, something 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:50.520 goes wrong. It's not a solo job. Really, anytime you're 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:55.879 handling a snake, there should be more than one person. Um, well, 0:19:56.040 --> 0:19:58.399 you know I didn't that should have called Emily outside. 0:19:58.680 --> 0:20:01.040 But she wouldn't let me pick up this snake. I 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:03.919 had to keep it quiet. I think I walked up 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:08.640 to and it's like, look at this, Yeah, I'm not mistaken. Um. 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:12.600 And they say for constrictors, they have a little handy 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:16.399 chart as well, for at least one person for every 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:21.840 five feet of snake, unless it's an anaconda or reticulated 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:24.720 python in case. In that case, you want every three 0:20:24.720 --> 0:20:29.520 feet of snake. Those are very heavy snakes. Females can 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:34.400 get up to like two hundred pounds. Which I saw 0:20:34.560 --> 0:20:37.720 the jackass bit the other day again where um, I 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:40.200 think it might have been in a sequel where they 0:20:40.359 --> 0:20:44.240 put it's a python or anaconda and one of those 0:20:44.400 --> 0:20:47.960 uh pits of a little red balls that kids jump 0:20:48.000 --> 0:20:50.920 in and they, you know, Johnny Knoxville and the gang 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:54.600 get in there, and this thing bites. This huge thing 0:20:54.760 --> 0:20:59.520 bites Johnny Knoxville like two or three times. And thing's 0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:01.480 got the head the size of a baseball, and it 0:21:01.520 --> 0:21:06.160 sounds like a jackass bit. Hey, hey to Lance Bangs, Yeah, 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:09.480 speaking of jackass. Yeah, he was one of the filmmakers 0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:12.560 behind that, and we had dinner with him in Portland, 0:21:12.720 --> 0:21:17.040 very pleasant dinner. So Hello, Lance, if you're out there listening. Um, 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:19.239 I can't believe that they did that. Anyway, it was 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:21.320 it was and he kept getting back in, he kept 0:21:21.320 --> 0:21:24.080 getting bit he's bleeding, and he keeps getting back in. 0:21:24.240 --> 0:21:26.360 I don't know why this isn't ringing a bell. I'm 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:30.000 sure I've seen Jackass two a bunch of times, you know, 0:21:30.280 --> 0:21:33.040 plus Chuck. You also want somebody around any time you're 0:21:33.040 --> 0:21:35.480 handling a snake, whether it's a python or a venomu 0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:38.439 snak or any sneak, really, because you want somebody to 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:41.760 call nine one one if something goes wrong, if you 0:21:41.800 --> 0:21:43.520 want somebody to be able to drive you to the 0:21:43.560 --> 0:21:47.320 hospital if something goes wrong, or um, if a python 0:21:47.440 --> 0:21:49.399 is trying to get around you, they can keep the 0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:53.080 tail from fully wrapping around. Um. There's a lot of 0:21:53.119 --> 0:21:56.679 stuff that an extra person can do, and things go 0:21:57.000 --> 0:22:00.600 really horribly awry when that doesn't happen. There was actually 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:03.760 a very famous case not too many years ago of 0:22:03.840 --> 0:22:07.919 the Venezuelan zookeeper. I think it was Venezuela, wasn't it. 0:22:08.320 --> 0:22:12.960 I remember? Um? Who was I think a grad student 0:22:13.160 --> 0:22:17.640 working as a zookeeper and he or she went into 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:23.400 a into a I guess a python's cage, a ten 0:22:23.680 --> 0:22:29.159 foot Burmese python cage alone during the night shift, and 0:22:29.200 --> 0:22:33.480 they found probably just to get something or to give 0:22:33.480 --> 0:22:35.280 it some food, just something. I'm sure it was something 0:22:35.400 --> 0:22:39.439 mundane and totally not worth losing your life over. And 0:22:39.480 --> 0:22:42.160 they found the person the next morning like half swallowed 0:22:42.160 --> 0:22:45.359 by the python. Oh my lord, Um, which is so 0:22:45.640 --> 0:22:50.160 you always want somebody around? Um? Well, should we get 0:22:50.160 --> 0:22:53.640 into the uh the religious nick handling? Yeah for sure, 0:22:54.240 --> 0:22:57.720 all right, well you said it, dude, It's called holiness 0:22:57.720 --> 0:23:01.560 serpent handling. And we actually you might think like, oh, 0:23:01.600 --> 0:23:05.639 they've done this for millennia um, or at least since 0:23:05.680 --> 0:23:10.159 you know, the seventeen eighteen hundreds. No, nope, we have 0:23:10.200 --> 0:23:15.560 a definitive start date nineteen ten in Tennessee the Dolly 0:23:15.600 --> 0:23:18.639 Pond Church of God in birch Wood, there was a 0:23:18.640 --> 0:23:22.720 preacher named George Hensley, and the legend is that he 0:23:22.840 --> 0:23:28.600 was having a faith crisis and was reading Mark from 0:23:28.640 --> 0:23:35.080 the Bible sixteen eighteen. Thou shalt take up serpents, and 0:23:35.119 --> 0:23:37.960 if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. 0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:43.160 That was a good Appalachian preacher um. And so he 0:23:43.680 --> 0:23:47.200