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Posted by K.E. on October 10, 2002 at 21:18:25:
In Reply to: Re: It is important to note... posted by patricia sherman on October 10, 2002 at 18:51:15:
:Methinks that the problem others have with K.E.'s postings, is the phenomenal frequency with which all these new "WC morphs" are finding their way into K.E.'s possession. The question naturally arises - why aren't some of these morphs turning up elsewhere in the country, or even elsewhere in the State?
:Tricia
Not all of the snakes are in my possession. The last two are owned by the Loiusville Zoo. They were also not all collected at the same time. I have simply waited until now to show them because they are now mature and I am reproducing them. Soon, they will be for sale. They have turned up slowly over a time period that spans more than a decade. I have also made it clear to people that these guys are what I am into. People in our state are generally nice, and basically have agreed to sell me the snakes because I have been very good to them. Through selective breeding I have been able to create many of the morphs that I have posted. As to SBOGILL's city theory, I pose this: Because Louisville is a populated area, people find the snakes. With the exception of one animal, all of these snakes have been discovered as freshly hatched babies. In a more rural setting they may have been first discovered by other predators who would not have been as kind as the humans who found them. It seems even more true when you see quite clearly that these snakes were not found by herpers, but by kids who just happened to stumble upon them. In nearly every case a child has found the snake, their mother has been terrified, and the kid has been forced to give up the snake to a zoo or pet shop. These kids have literally given up these rare and beautiful animals because of their parent's irrational fear. Louisville is really just a big small town. I work at the zoo, run a herp society, and am "retired" from a pet shop where I worked for 7 years. I know all the herp guys in my town and they know me. We have our fights like anybody else, but we also help each other out. I would like to publically thank Ron Allen, Jay Hockersmith, and Gary Johnson for turning these snakes over to me. These guys knew I was into this stuff and helped me out. Thanks! I have spent the past 13 years quietly working with these morphs. I did not even post until now. This is simply how I behave. For instance, I have spent thousands of dollars on Mark Bell's snakes, but I would bet that he doesn't know me from Adam. I guess my quiet approach over the past years is simply coming back to haunt me. Perhaps I should have made a stronger effort to introduce myself and brag about all my plans. I understand why people are questioning the authenticity. It is no big deal. Now that you all know me, time will prove that I am an honest guy who has worked very hard to get where I am today. My honest approach has played a major role in obtaining these animals. Kentucky is a herpetological heaven. There are all kinds of mutants here. The Zoo used to have an albino snapping turtle that was collected in our county. We currently have an albino slider and an albino map turtle that were collected here. I believe the map turtle is the only one of it's kind, but I am not into turtles so I am unsure. It is most certainly not an escaped pet. In fact, there have been studies done that prove less than 10% of introduced animals survive their first year. As for the DNA stuff, it is absolute hogwash. As Dwight has stated, this work has already been done. The results are in, and that is why we now have an "eastern" rat snake. Obsoleta is incredibly diverse genetically. So diverse that DNA testing was unable to distinguish between populations ranging nearly the entire Atlantic coast. It is impossible at this point to tell if an obsoleta even came from this state, much less a particular county. This is old news and anyone who doesn't know this stuff must not read scientific literature, or much else for that matter. For now, everyone can believe as they wish about these snakes. I don't need some egg-head to tell me that I have a cow sucker. I know what I have. The Keeper Extraordinaire has a slogan. It reads, "NEVER DOUBT ME!!" Time will reveal the truth.
P.S. I have shown all the morphs that I am aware of that are from this county and still living. However, I am praying at night for that call to come into the Zoo from some kid with a new mutant his mother is making him get rid of.
