snakegetters

Can I beg somebody for clearer images of habu and temple viper? The animal on the "temple viper" label is probably either Trimeresurus mcgregori, flavomaculatus or kanburiensis, but without better resolution I can't tell. It's definitely not Tropidolaemus wagleri. EDIT: someone gave me a better look, and the head morphology is consistent with Tropidolaemus, but the pattern, not so much. Either someone got happy with PhotoShop or there is a highly aberrant Tropidolaemus out there that I covet. The "habu" could be a Sistrurus but at that resolution, I can't be sure. It's not T. flavoviridis. EDIT: At higher resolution it appears to be Sistrurus miliarius barbouri (dusky pygmy rattlesnake from Florida). My curiosity is itching now and I wanna know. I also wanna know who is pawning off these photos under the incorrect species names, because they're silly. The labels are certainly very pretty, because it's hard (in my admittedly biased opinion) to find snakes that aren't pretty. They just aren't correct on the species. Posted an update and an apology to BPAL here, for folks who also wanna know: http://danceswthcobras.livejournal.com/111277.html

Thank you - but be careful of what you wish for me! I'm already pretty overwhelmed with this season's rescues. Visual treat for folks, an online exhibit from a "snake's eye" point of view: http://capefearserpentarium.com/SPT/index.html Snakegetters.com isn't updating successfully for some reason, so the eye candy is here.

At this point I have made successful contact and I'm sure it will all work out just fine. In the name of preventing any more snake labelling silliness, even if they don't have me provide the photos for the next set of snake labels, I'd be very glad to consult on whatever images they do use to make sure they are at least of the correct species they purport to be depicting. Stock wildlife photos really aren't. I've used stock photos extensively myself, and had some good laughs while re-labelling everything in the right genus and species.

Thank you. I cannot be sure how many incorrect species ID's there are in here due to the poor resolution, but there are a few. Atheris nitschei is not a "green tree viper" except in coloration and general habit; it is an African snake that bears no relation to the Asian Trimeresurus. The snake purporting to be a cottonmouth is Agkistrodon but not piscivorus. It is a neonate; juvenile coloration is strikingly different from the adult in this genus. I am fairly sure that is a Trimeresurus and not a Tropidolaemus in the supposed Temple Viper photo (it is definitely not wagleri), and the image purporting to be a habu is not of characteristic appearance for Trimeresurus flavoviridis. The head proportions on the Dispholidus are not correct for the species though the pattern and coloration is within range; it's possible that the image is correct but there is some distortion due to the curved bottle. I suspect but can't tell for sure that's an Eastern diamondback (adamanteus) not a Western diamondback (atrox). I need a closer look at the head to verify, and I can't distinguish it in this image. The Echis (saw scaled) image is fine, likewise the Laticauda (sea snake). I do not recognize any of the specific animals or images with the possible exception of the nitschei, and I believe they are likely to be stock photos. Warning: stock photos of wildlife are very, very funny when it comes to taxonomy. You can get a good laugh by going through them and seeing what they label incorrectly. Which is mostly everything that is even slightly obscure.

I'm sorry I've made people uncomfortable. I'm not, really, part of the BPAL community. I haven't sniffed a single product, though I keep hearing and reading about them from so many of my friends that I've frequently drooled over them secondhand. But in a way, I live here already. The degree of crossover between my circles and BPAL fandom is interwoven like Celtic knotwork. I feel pretty strongly that people have a right to know what's going on. But I don't feel that BPAL is really the villain here. Obviously that particular accolade belongs to whoever knowingly took a copyrighted image and represented it as their own, or as public domain. I think that BPAL has a pretty good chance to come out of this having gained rather than lost. Certainly I hope so. I'll keep updating on my LJ because folks really do want to know - and deserve to know. But I also respect the fact that these forums are supposed to be for on topic discussion of scents, not for copyright related drama, so I guess that's where I'll leave it. If someone would be kind enough to point me to a link to the Snake Pit photos, I will be glad to take a shot at identifying their origin.

I did send an email to the customer service address listed on your web page. Today I sent a second email to another address kindly provided to me on my lj. My USA.net provider is generally pretty good about mail; it's my other accounts at yahoo and gmail that have been known to go astray. Though generally I only see those problems to and from AOL addresses. So I'm honestly not sure whose ISP is dropping the ball if you don't have at least two of my emails in your inbox. I included my phone number in the email. My contact information is on my web page, http://www.snakegetters.com/email.html I was quite surprised, and I'll admit, rather annoyed to suddenly find my snake being used to sell perfume. But I'm more than willing to work something out now that I know you were given misinformation on who the photo belonged to. Here's my suggestion to fix your potential copyright issues with the snake labels. Use my photos - WITH permission this time. We can work out the permissions. And I have plenty more spectacular snakes that don't mind posing. Custom poses and extreme closeups not a problem. Rights are all yours in perpetuity. Also if you show me the photos you are currently using where you are unsure of their owners, I may be able to identify their origin and put you in touch with the people who own those animals or took those photos. The money I take in from photos and venom sampling generally goes to veterinary research and equipment, and sometimes directly to rescue and rehabilitation for animals in need. I'm less interested in profiteering than in making sure the animals have what they need, so I'll work with you on the cost if money's an issue on your end. I don't mind my photos being used, I just mind them being used without asking and without contributing anything at all to the rescue/rehab project that they were taken to benefit. http://www.snakegetters.com/rescue.html Venom is another byproduct of the veterinary work I do with the pretty fanged things. I don't produce it in quantity, just samples for research, but how cool would it be to produce a limited edition of King Cobra with actual king cobra venom? Diluted to 1000X homeopathic concentrations, non pharmacologically active, but still real venom - and from the snake on the label, too. Beth said that we were in contact.....and while I look forward to that, so far it hasn't happened. Maybe that means they actually got my emails? Hope so. Regards, Tanith Tyrr Snake Getters Hi Gemma. I did actually think I'd been tossed. For one, some weird stuff happened (couldn't see any posts at all) after I got the admin PM telling me I was trolling. Also, all of my posts were deleted including a chatty introduction talking about my having run across BPAL many times in the past via friends who shared my gaming, larping, con-going, Ren Faire and filk interests. Never have sniffed any though; it's always been on my "to do" list since I love scents. So while I've had a bit of an abrupt and unusual introduction to the BPAL community, I actually wanted to stick my nose in for a sniff. Except that the admins dumped my introductory note, and, I thought, dumped me too. Anyhow I followed the link you posted and found out I wasn't banned. So here I am. But I'm sorry, I still don't actually have any clue who the "labbies" are. I did ask an admin where I should be discussing the issue, and I didn't get an answer. I am now gathering from this thread that the folks I should be talking to are named Macha and kebechet....but I've only figured that out as of roughly thirty seconds ago, so that's why I didn't PM them before. I DID email them through the addresses posted on the website, BEFORE I posted anything. I understand that they're away at a convention - hope they have a blast - and won't have a lot of time to respond until they get back. That's fine, Sunkist can wait. Snakes are remarkably good at that. I just sent a double PM to kebechet and Macha with a copy of what I emailed to bpaltm@gmail.com, in case it went astray. However when I try to go to my "sent box" it is empty. I hope that does not mean that the operation failed, but I'm afraid it might. If it did, my contact information is at the link above. It's also on my LJ profile, and plastered all over most of the English language venomous reptile forums in existence.