Ebay Abuse

[Sunrunner]

That cobra looks really...strange. That is really odd but not all that out of place on ebay I mean you can buy Elvis sweat and Hitlers head on there a snake in a bottle is not that insane. I have a few preserved animals that I had a taxidermist do for me when they died, that preserved snake in a bottle isn't that different is it? I'm not sure how they do that so maybe I'm wrong on this. My understanding is a preserved snake is put in the bottle then the bottem is added and preserving fluids are poured in. Is that assumption right? Let me know I don't want to be ignorant on this.

[SCReptiles]

Classics case of first world egocentrism. We sit behind computer screens claiming to be appalled by this endangered cobra’s head in a bottle, but on the other side of the world, a dirt poor villager with no hopes of finding work can feed his family with rice for a month by killing one king cobra. It bothers me as well to see a king decimated like this, but rest assured, if I were in the same position as those villagers, I will kill them too to feed my family. Has anyone been appalled enough as of yet to send a little money over to Asia?

[Edwin]

It is somewhat common in China and parts of Southeast Asia, very similar to how people put a caterpillar in tequila in this part of the world. Personally, I find it gross.

The snake is inserted live into the bottle, alcohol is then poured in and the bottle is sealed. I found an article a while back where the snake managed to live through this ordeal and promptly bit the purchaser as soon as the bottle was opened. Talk about tenacious.

[Mason]

You're not allowed to sell parishables or alchohol on ebay, so I don't know what this person thinks they are doing

[Zoe]

It is as disturbing as the Bonzai kittens.

Bonzai kittens were never banned because they were never real, and I just wish everyone would shush and get over the FAKE JOKE site already. Jeez.

Anyway, yeah, while I don't like the idea of a cobra in a bottle, it's the custom of another country. I'm sure lots of people don't like the idea of leather jackets!

Zoe

[Dark_Angel_25]

ok, forget I opened my mouth to begin with. And anyway, I was n't the one who posted a 'fake joke' web page, I just mentioned something, alright I was wrong, sue me, but you guys don't have to bite my head off.

Sheesh is right...

[Simon]

Well to be honest. I have seen so many of these already in real life. Being an Asian....basically these things are completely normal and it's basically tradition. Having a snake in there is like nothing. There are also wine that are made with mice, crocoches, crix, mealies, tiger peni*, ox peni*, horse peni*, and tons more. Even when I was a kid I drank the liver of a snake because it was thought to help cure a person's asthma. So it's nothing that unusal. Just another tradition that Asians have.

I don't think that it's that screwed up.

[Zoe]

Well, it's a little screwed up to drink wine of made of large mammal genetalia! jk

[C.m.pyrrhus]

I as well see nothing wrong with it. In terms of conservation of some species, yes it poses a problem. We in western civilization eat cows, yet to other in parts of the world it is an outrage. When you take away the fence between cultures, it is a bit easier to understand and accept what and why the reasons are there for. The outrage should be put in deeper reasoning that simply at ones culture IMO, even if it be a bit shocking to say the least.

It would make an interested piece in my cupboards..."Honey, can you get me the sugar, it is behind that bottle there." I can see hours of fun with that...LOL ....only joking

[Linds]

Traditions are one thing - all cultures have them, but I do have have serious problems when animals become endangered as a result. Tigers, sharks, monkeys, etc. have all been put in danger due to many of these traditional practices. I don't think it can be fairly compared to North Americans eating cattle or swine... all of these are farmed and no harm is done to wild populations.

[Ontario_herper]

Chuck is right in many regards. Although as snake lovers we frown upon people eating snakes and other herps, it is a way of life in many parts of the world. I once shared a few beers with an aboriginal in Australia. He told me several stories about all the snakes and goannas that he and his family had caught and eaten. Of course I wasn't overly happy to hear these stories but I think it is important to be open to the ways others live their lives.

It is easy for North Americans to sit in their fancy homes and look on a television or computer screen and be disgusted with how others around the world consume animals in one way or another. In many such cases their consumption has little impact on wild reptiles. In most cases these people are only trying to fill their stomachs. Of course there are species that are hunted too extensively and this is very sad.

It just seems weird to me that people are so harsh on others around the world that may catch a few snakes and eat a few monkeys to put food on the plate. Meanwhile we are sitting here typing on our computers wasting copious amounts of energy. Where does this energy come from? In most cases the environment was altered in one devastating way or another not so we could feed our families but so that we can have the luxuries that we do.

[Brock]

Interesting thing I saw on a documentary about Siberian tigers. One Maharaja killed over 3,000 Siberian tigers in his life just for sport, and now, or rather when the documentary was made, there were less than 3,000 of them in existence.

I agree with Chuck and Ont_herper, death of one species, no matter how needless it may appear to us, is necessary for the survival of another's; namely humans, unfortunately. But hey, it got your attention, and I'm sure some tourists walking down some poor street in Asia would be compelled to buy this interesting trinket you don't see every day just to have conversation piece. What could 26$ US buy a family of five in Asia? Probably more than you'd think.


-Brock

[Brock]

Oh yeah and whoever believes that bonsai kittens were/are real..........


....................... <---thats all i have to say

-Brock

[brig]

Well, if the Western world, and North America in particular (because of scale!) don't reign in on their abuse of the whole world's resources, there won't be much in the way of wildlife to decimate any more!

Yes, there are examples of isolated populations of humans who wipe out key resources in their own environment and mess it up all by themselves (researchers believe this is what occurred on Easter Island), but the penalty is that the human population also dies out, or is reduced! Natural selection - or simply 'nature' - at work.
However, now that 'globalisation' exists, and humans, of course, believe they are above these laws of nature, the powerful nations fix the odds in their favour, intefere with all sorts of natural and political events, and generally end up stuffing it all up even more.

How did I get to this from a bloody snake in a bottle!? I don't know, but I guess it's the hypocrisy that galls me, that we don't like being face to face with 'unpleasant' things that other people do, but can shut our eyes and ears to the anguish we ourselves are causing by our 'culture' (cynical laugh at the use of the word culture!).

I agree with SCReptiles, why not give a donation to 'poorer' cultures, (if you don't already), and give them less reason to destroy their precious resources in order to survive!
Here's a good link - very easy to give, I just sent something to Iraq, since, regardless of politics, I am part of one of the nations responsible for the current plight of the normal, everyday people there... all because 'we' (America and Europe, not Africa, Asia, etc) need another few years worth of oil. Hmmm. That seems fair...?

http://www.thehungersite.com

Have fun giving...


Brig.

[secretagentman]

Woahhhh there killer, calm it down...all I was doing was showing everyone what I found on Ebay and they are wieghing in thier opinions on it, call them hypocrites or whatever you want, you won't change thier opinions. Just because some people don't like the thought of a King Cobra in a bottle of alcohol dosen't make them evil animal killing politicians. I mean really don't even bring politics up, it has no place here and I don't think anyone wants to get into a political debate with you over the current situation of the world. BY the way if all we were over there for ws oil, we would have made ALL the money a loan, not just part of it. Later -Mike