why does Animal Planet hate Kentucky?

[donks]

Snake Man of Appalachia.

Uggh. Backwood rednecks at their finest. Snake-handling, jobless, dirty rugrats underfoot, washing machine on the front porch that uses rainwater. And the way they speak... Just UGGH.

My maternal grandmothers family were hill people from Kentucky, but for some reason they were normal.

This show made me flinch on behalf of all Kentuckians.

Best of all? The Fundy mother-in-law. Long hair in a bun and skirt to the ground. She sings about the bible in the dirt yard, accompanied by a guitar and a banjo.

Call of the Wildman

A self-proclaimed turtle man splashes about in a cow-shit filled pond, catching snapping turtles. Gross. Also in Kentucky. A turtle bites off a cows teat, call in the septic tank scuba diver.

Turtle Guy lives in a shack and when he has an invasion of mice, he brings Sir Lancelot the backyard snake in for the night. Oh! And TG is missing plenty of teeth!

[Witsec7]

I'm fascinated by snake handlers, I used to plan my vacations around home comings at churches that handled snakes.

[donks]

The town my haunted house is in has a snake handling church! Surprisingly they aren't upset about having a haunt there.

[simplysweet]

The town my haunted house is in has a snake handling church! Surprisingly they aren't upset about having a haunt there.

Oi? A hunted house? I have not heard this story - is there a thread you could direct me too please?! Or a quick recap?

[donks]

I am a certified Halloween Nut and we are building a haunted attraction in a small town near my house. I have run a similar business before, a haunted trail a couple of years back-a huge success, but our partner divorced and we lost that location.

The owners of the building we're in now sought me out after hearing about my old haunt. They wanted something like that for their town. So we have the building, rent free. The owner is paying the utilities, and we have a small building fund-and everything that was still in the building from the previous tenant is ours to use.

I make my own props, dead bodies being my specialty.

The greatest thrill of my life is to scare grown ass men. I had one jump back several feet, cover his face with his hands and scream like a bitch. It was AMAZING.

ETA: My husband and son are involved in the Haunted Arts, too. It's what we do together, as a family. :twisted:

[simplysweet]

I am a certified Halloween Nut and we are building a haunted attraction in a small town near my house. I have run a similar business before, a haunted trail a couple of years back-a huge success, but our partner divorced and we lost that location.

The owners of the building we're in now sought me out after hearing about my old haunt. They wanted something like that for their town. So we have the building, rent free. The owner is paying the utilities, and we have a small building fund-and everything that was still in the building from the previous tenant is ours to use.

I make my own props, dead bodies being my specialty.

The greatest thrill of my life is to scare grown ass men. I had one jump back several feet, cover his face with his hands and scream like a bitch. It was AMAZING.

ETA: My husband and son are involved in the Haunted Arts, too. It's what we do together, as a family. :twisted:

You are my new favorite person EVER! I love Halloween and there is a "haunted trail" near where I live and it is (super scary according to everyone including my unshakeable SO) always a let down. "A guy coming out of the woods with a chainsaw....oh my!"

This Halloween I may need to head South and let you try and scare the hell out of me. I love it but it takes a lot; sounds like you might be better at it then the hill people that run ours........

[doe]

This is the year of the hillbilly on the science-y channels. Hillbilly Handfishin', Moonshiners, Rocket City Rednecks (represent!). Also, there is a Deliverance style snake handling town about an hour from here. It was featured in an A&E documentary in the past.

[donks]

I just mentioned last night to my son that tv is ALL ABOUT redneck/hillbilly activities right now. He and his friends are planning a home-made raft river float for next summer. They are currently planning how to build their rafts. They are using whatever they can find to build them: a box spring and 2 liter coke bottle is what my son is personally making. Others are collecting lidded 5 gallon buckets and chain link kennel panels, a wooden gate and old dock foam and 55 gallon drums and logs.

One of these channels need to send a film crew and a shit-ton of money to film them. Think about it: 4 young Southern men, spending a week floating down a river on basically garbage. Itks made for tv!

[lauracat7]

What I hate most about "Snake Men of Appalachia" is that Animal Planet is glorifying Verlin Short and his buddy when they have criminal histories for poaching and selling native wildlife- the snakes!

Verlin does say several times "When the law got on to me about my snakes..." but he never comes out and admits he got busted for stealing venomous snakes (protected in Kentucky) or that he was GUILTY of those crimes. Nope, instead, he makes it sound like the federal govt. punished him for practicing his religion...not! They'd have more money for things like food and birthday parties for their children if he wasn't having to pay fines for his criminal actions...

Here are some of the facts, with a link to the full story at the bottom. You can also search for "Verlin Ray Short" on Google to see other stories about his poaching/selling activities.

IMO, Animal Planet needs to remember they are supposed to be supporting animals, not the people who poach, destroy and sell them for proft and whose subsequent AP paycheck then goes to more criminal activities

HERALD-LEADER (Lexington, Kentucky) 12 July 08 Sting nets scores of venomous snakes (Jack Brammer) Frankfort: State conservation officers seized more than 125 venomous snakes, arrested 10 people and cited one other Thursday after a nearly two-year undercover investigation of those who allegedly illegally possessed, imported and trafficked the deadly reptiles.

Forty-four officers with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife confiscated the snakes and other reptiles, including an alligator, in the investigation, and are expected to issue more than 700 charges.

Animals seized include western diamondback rattlesnakes, timber rattlesnakes, cottonmouth water moccasins, northern and southern copperheads, cobras, great basin rattlesnakes, a gaboon viper, a puff adder and a 2-foot-long alligator....

There are two types of state permits required to own such animals. One is for ownership and the other is for commercial license to sell offspring, Wiley said.

The state released information about the following arrested individuals, all of whom face misdemeanor charges of illegally buying, selling and possessing wildlife that carry a maximum penalty of a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

¡ Verlin Ray Short, 36, of Mayking in Letcher County, faces at least 78 charges.

Officers seized 34 venomous snakes, including a western diamond rattlesnake, a great basin rattlesnake, timber rattlesnakes and northern and southern copperheads.

http://www.kentucky.com/254/story/459181.html

[almostfundylyte]

Please don't think all of us Kentuckians are like this! I cringe, too, each time I see this show mentioned. I've met Ernie (turtleman) several times, as we live in the next town over, and my son (9) thinks turtleman is awesome, but that's just because he got to hold a big-ass turtle. Turtleman is very nice, though. Prior to the show, he did animal removal for whatever a person could give him, and if they could give nothing, he still removed the animals for free.