When I was in North Africa, I used to go to very large Bazaars, where I would watch the "spectacles", a rag-tag impromptu circus on the open streets, where performers would ply their tricks, and coax a few cents out of their audiences. Jugglers, very young acrobats doing barefoot backflips, and the venerable snake charmers handling cobras would run their performances in the open air markets amidst the smell of roasted lamb, camel leather, and freshly squeezed orange juice. The sights and sounds would first give the uninitiated a case of vertigo and then exhaustion.
I wasn't long in country when I learned the truth about the cobra handlers, however. Even though children were coming near the snakes, the cobra handlers had done a number on them to make them safe. They had removed the fangs from the cobra- a process that ultimately rendered them a death sentence since they could no longer eat. They would die in as little as a month from starvation, and be replaced by another young cobra- fangs freshly removed. The replacement cobra was still full of energy to entertain crowds, who had no idea these particular cobras were de-fanged and basically harmless. The handlers used the cobras for personal gain, and then discarded them at the end of their short lives, and replace them with the next generation.
I once got to observe how it was done. The snake handler would approach the cobra from the tail, and first touch it. The cobra would instinctively strike where he felt the touch. The handler would then approach from a different side, and touch. Another strike. This process would occur several times, until the cobra was fatigued, and stopped striking at every touch. Next the handler would do these short strokes on the tail, moving away in anticipation of the strikes, but ultimately lulling the cobra to a state very near sleep. The gentle strokes on the fatigued cobra keep it overwhelmed, but the familiarity of touching seemed to lower its defenses. Finally, when the moment was right, and the cobra was the least responsive, the handler snatched the snake and violently pulled the fangs out with a pair of pliers. In an unceremonious move, the cobra was stripped of the only defense method it ever had, as well as the ability to care for and feed itself.
As I read the news, I realize there has been so much touch and feel and so many false starts, that many of us are being lulled to sleep in just the same way, and as soon as we are fatigued, we are going to be de-fanged just like the cobras.
I wasn't long in country when I learned the truth about the cobra handlers, however. Even though children were coming near the snakes, the cobra handlers had done a number on them to make them safe. They had removed the fangs from the cobra- a process that ultimately rendered them a death sentence since they could no longer eat. They would die in as little as a month from starvation, and be replaced by another young cobra- fangs freshly removed. The replacement cobra was still full of energy to entertain crowds, who had no idea these particular cobras were de-fanged and basically harmless. The handlers used the cobras for personal gain, and then discarded them at the end of their short lives, and replace them with the next generation.
I once got to observe how it was done. The snake handler would approach the cobra from the tail, and first touch it. The cobra would instinctively strike where he felt the touch. The handler would then approach from a different side, and touch. Another strike. This process would occur several times, until the cobra was fatigued, and stopped striking at every touch. Next the handler would do these short strokes on the tail, moving away in anticipation of the strikes, but ultimately lulling the cobra to a state very near sleep. The gentle strokes on the fatigued cobra keep it overwhelmed, but the familiarity of touching seemed to lower its defenses. Finally, when the moment was right, and the cobra was the least responsive, the handler snatched the snake and violently pulled the fangs out with a pair of pliers. In an unceremonious move, the cobra was stripped of the only defense method it ever had, as well as the ability to care for and feed itself.
As I read the news, I realize there has been so much touch and feel and so many false starts, that many of us are being lulled to sleep in just the same way, and as soon as we are fatigued, we are going to be de-fanged just like the cobras.
http://www.nraila.org/News/Read/InTheNews.aspx?ID=12349
