Jezebel: Snakes

Dame Judi Dench Is Afraid Of The Dark

Cassie Murdoch — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:35:00 EST

Unlike many people her age, the amazing Dame Judi Dench, who's 76, is not thinking about retiring: More »

Turn In Your Pythons Before They Drive You Mad

Anna North — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:15:00 EST

If you had 25 quick-breeding Australian flying squirrels in your living room, you might feel a little overwhelmed. Which is why Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation decided to hold an Exotic Pet Amnesty Day, where owners of such squirrels as well as pythons, boas, turtles, geckos, and giant chameleons could turn in their pets without fear of prosecution, even though some may have been illegal in Florida. Why exempt people from prosecution? To keep people from just releasing their animals, creating a tiger-eats-monkey shitshow like the one that recently went down in Ohio. Speaking of which, five people have recently been charged with trying to steal the dead body of a lion released in that incident. I think the moral of this story is that exotic animals make people do crazy, crazy things, and should be in the wild where they belong. As Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle tells ABC, "There's no reason for any private citizen to have a bear or a lion or a chimpanzee or a green anaconda in their home." More »

Some Slithery Ladies Get Pregnant Without Ever Having Sex

Dodai Stewart — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:00:00 EDT

Imagine if you got pregnant a couple of years after having sex with a dude? Imagine if you got pregnant without ever having sex? An eastern diamond rattlesnake recently gave birth five years after mating. She just stored the sperm until she felt like it was the right time. Even crazier, a female copperhead snake that had been on exhibit — without a mate — for years at the North Carolina Aquarium suddenly gave birth to four "normal-looking" offspring. Mate-less reproduction is called parthenogenesis. And it's real. Virgin births: Not just for the Bible! More »

"Snakeman" Let Snakes Bite Daughter

Anna North — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 13:57:03 EDT

Today's Worst Dad Award goes to Australian "Snakeman" Raymond Hoser, who let two poisonous snakes, a taipan and a death adder, bite his daughter to prove they were de-venomized and safe. Apparently this demonstration was intended as a response to charges that he had breached his Commercial Wildlife Demonstrator License, because nothing shows you're a conscientious animal handler like letting something with "death" in its name bite your kid. The girl was apparently not poisoned, but she was left with bleeding bite marks and the beginnings of a really lucrative memoir. More »

Lord Voldemort's Dream Home For Sale In Idaho

Erin Gloria Ryan — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 14:55:00 EST

An Idaho man is trying to sell his snake-invested house. In this difficult real estate market, his chances of finding a buyer are slim, but then again, "there are people who love snakes." There are also speakers of Parseltongue. More »

Is Snake Venom The New Botox Or Restalyne?

Samantha Bennett — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:20:00 EDT

Plenty of Hollywood stars voluntarily inject toxic substances into their faces to stave off wrinkles (Botox is a mild form of a very harmful toxin). But you should put the latest idea on your Definitely Don't Do-it-Yourself list. More »

The Garden Of Eden

Anna Holmes — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:15:00 EDT

[Leatherhead, U.K., March 26. Image via Getty]

Snakes, Drowning, And Six Flags: The Things Women Fear More Than Breakups

Anna North — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:40:00 EST

Today we got a press release that read, "A woman's greatest fears are rejection and abandonment." This woman disagrees. More »

Grandmother Kills Snake With Her Bare Hands

Margaret Hartmann — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:40:00 EDT

Wow: After a seven-inch pygmy rattlesnake slithered up to her door an bit her on the hand, 87-year-old Esther Orring strangled it with her bare hands. She has been treated with anti-venom and is recovering in the hospital. [NBC Miami] More »

Creepy PSA On Sexual Abuse Will Leave You Feeling Violated

Tracie Egan Morrissey — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:00:00 EDT

The clip above is a PSA about the trauma of sexual abuse and the importance of treating victims to help them get over that trauma. It effectively conveys the haunting creepiness that abuse victims feel, with its use of a (vaguely NSFW) slithery, fleshy, snake-like thing that sorta looks like a cross between an arm and a phallus. (The commercial is European, which could partly explain why its so "edgy".) More »