Matt Ellerbeck–a snake expert, advocate and conservationist based in Kingston, Canada–discusses how a childhood fascination became, in his case, an adult passion and occupation, having now given countless presentations on snakes and snake issues and written a number of articles along the same lines;
Listen Online Now:
addresses some of the pitfalls and ripple effects of the exotic pet (especially, snake) trade by way of examining the problem of numerous Burmese pythons living in the Florida Everglades, suggesting alternatives to both the official killings of those pythons now underway and some possible methods to prevent or minimize such crises from arising in the future; speculates on why there’s such a widespread, often irrational fear of snakes, and how that fear shapes responses to various snake-oriented predicaments, even something as basic as a snake entering someone’s backyard, in contrast to responses to “charismatic mammals”; explains why he feels that snakes should not be bought or sold, but if they are to find homes with humans, the emphasis should be placed on advocating adoption as we do with dogs, cats and other such companion animals, and more. [snakeconserve101.weebly.com]
COMEDY CORNER: Brian Regan’s “Whale Noises” (www.BrianRegan.com)
MUSIC: Mary Flower’s “Black Dog Rag,” Iron & Wine’s “Serpent Charmer,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: The Doors’ version of “Crawling King Snake”
