A Little Weekend Snakehunting
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009A writer’s work can be pretty dreary stuff, especially if what he likes to do is spend time in the field. Sitting at a desk in the middle of summer is the worst. But I’ve got a good story in the works so it’s got to be done. This morning I did a little urban herpin’, which is to say I went through the news. It has been a big week for snakes–a green mamba in Hollywood, Florida bit a cable worker (Mark Lucas of Strictly Reptiles comments), the BBC covered python hunting in the Everglades, and in mouse-sized space the St. Louis Post-Dispatch managed to grossly mis-report the goals of the reptile lobby, which supports a ban on Burmese and African rock pythons, and opposes a ban that would eliminate the keeping of appropriately-sized snakes. And I missed this ditty about a border patrol officer smuggling leopard tortoises into the US from Tanzania. Any guess on who his supplier was?
Finally, I always like to see how many pages it takes to get to a dead reptile in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. This week it’s one. On the inside cover Hermes has its “So-Kelly” bag in matte alligator. That’s so-kelly.