Keeping Venomous Snakes
(Continued from page 2) FROM THE DESK OE THE EDITOR
children, resulting in 92 deaths and 135 injuries (Aftermath) and 46 fatalities
from dog attacks, 18 of which were age 18 or under. The purpose of including
these examples is simply to demonstrate the very pronounced psychological bias
against snakes. Statistically, there can be no doubt that the widespread fear of
these misunderstood animals far overshadows any actual threat that they pose
to people. An outright ban on the keeping of venomous snakes because of the
actions of a single irresponsible person would be a sadly misinformed and rather
ham-handed course of action that would, in fact, do a great deal of real harm
to a great many people and animals. A ban is not the answer, but there should
absolutely be very strict penalties in place for such irresponsible keepers, and
there are.
Frederick Boyce is the staff herpetologist at the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll
Shores.
The author’s brother, Lock Boyce, holding a large eastern diamondback
rattlesnake. He began working with rattlesnakes as a teenager and was a major
influence on the community of young snake keepers and enthusiasts around
Winston-Salem in the 1970s. He went on to become a veterinarian, working at both
the Atlanta and San Diego zoos, as well as in Africa, where he hand caught large
cobras and gaboon vipers. He handled thousands of venomous snakes and was
never once bitten —Photo by Don Alford, ca. 1973 in Myrtle Beach
Have You Heard... ?
CCEC to award five scholarships. With college tuition and room and board
continuing to rise, scholarships are a great way to offset some of the costs.
Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative (CCEC) and its foundation will help five
students do just that by awarding them a total of $4,000 for four years of study.
The scholarships will be awarded to five deserving students heading to college
in the fall of 2022. One student each from East Carteret, West Carteret, Croatan
and Havelock high schools will be selected, with the fifth recipient being the
next highest scoring applicant among all the applications, including those from
other schools in CCEC’s service area. The deadline for application is
March 1, 2022. For more information and access to the application, visit
ccemc.com/scholarships.
CCC 2022 Escoffier Chef dinner dates announced. Help Carteret
Community College (CCC) Culinary Arts, Baking 8c Pastry Arts, and
Hospitality Management students go to France ... by eating great food. Each
year, three to four students are selected to work with Escoffier Chefs in France
for five weeks. When students return, they help plan and execute the Escoffier
Chef dinners and teach current students techniques they learned while abroad.
Funding from the dinners pays for the students to participate in the French
exchange program at no cost to them, and remaining funds are used to support
these three programs. Carteret Community College is the only NC Community
College to offer this unique opportunity. The 2022 dinners will be on January 25,
February 22 and March 29. The Escoffier chefs are yet to be determined, but its
not too early to lock in tickets for these dinners. Visit carteret.edu/foundation
(click on View All Events).
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