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General Discussion & Feedback => Just Chat! => Topic started by: RD on 18/08/2012 19:43:29

Title: snake handling by god-botherers , a dying art
Post by: RD on 18/08/2012 19:43:29
Quote
Mack Wolford, a flamboyant Pentecostal pastor from West Virginia whose serpent-handling talents were profiled last November in The Washington Post Magazine , hoped the outdoor service he had planned for Sunday at an isolated state park would be a “homecoming like the old days,” full of folks speaking in tongues, handling snakes and having a “great time.” But it was not the sort of homecoming he foresaw.

Instead, Wolford, who turned 44 the previous day, was bitten by a rattlesnake he owned for years. He died late Sunday ...

Wolford was 15 when he saw his father die at age 39 of a rattlesnake bite in almost exactly the same circumstances.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/serpent-handling-pastor-profiled-earlier-in-washington-post-dies-from-rattlesnake-bite/2012/05/29/gJQAJef5zU_story.html

One way or another the phrase "snake handler" should be a term of abuse [:)]
Title: Re: snake handling by god-botherers , a dying art
Post by: CliffordK on 18/08/2012 20:50:32
So, with good snake antivenom available, as well as common practices of restricting the blood flow from the bite to the rest of the body....

Did he choose "faith healing"?

Isn't it common to "milk" a snake prior to potentially hazardous activities?
Title: Re: snake handling by god-botherers , a dying art
Post by: RD on 19/08/2012 20:00:25
Isn't it common to "milk" a snake prior to potentially hazardous activities?

That's what the barman does when you order "snakebite (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakebite_%28shandy%29)"  [:)] ...

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http://news.sky.com/story/974519/snake-handler-in-hospital-after-cobra-bite
Title: Re: snake handling by god-botherers , a dying art
Post by: time-cop on 22/08/2012 19:46:26
Isn't it common to "milk" a snake prior to potentially hazardous activities?

I tried that, couldnt find the udders to put the milking machine on ! Neilep assured me it would be fine !
Title: Re: snake handling by god-botherers , a dying art
Post by: Don_1 on 25/08/2012 17:55:47
Most rattlesnake bites are 'dry' (ie no venom injected). Sounds like this one had finally gotten pee'd off with the pastor's incessant preaching. Perhaps he had just told the Biblical story of how the snake lost its legs and was doomed to squirm around on its tummy forever more.

Hssssss, ssso thatsssss why I have no legsssss isssss it? And you ssssing praissssse to him eh! Thisssss'l teach you, you two faccccced passsstor. Hsssssssss (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.darkgrid.com%2Fwafen%2Fimages2%2Fsnake2.gif&hash=aefdc85c2f68cacf19c7b813587200dd)MUNCH!!!!
Title: Re: snake handling by god-botherers , a dying art
Post by: RD on 25/08/2012 18:48:07
... Perhaps he had just told the Biblical story of how the snake lost its legs and was doomed to squirm around on its tummy forever more.

But snakes did descend from things with legs ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_skeleton#Vestigial_limbs