Beason , Reynolds v. United States , and Cantwell v. Connecticut , between the regulation of religious belief and action. And so the Tennessee Supreme Court adopted a similar ruling in Swann v. Pack when it upheld an injunction prohibiting members of a church from handling snakes and extended it to the drinking of strychnine.
This article was originally published in He is co-editor of the Encyclopedia of the First Amendment. Covington, Dennis. Reading, Mass. La Barre, Weston. New York: Schocken Books, It may cause errors in submitting the form. Skip to main content. By using sojo. Subscribe Magazine Preaching the Word Newsletters. News Living Faith. By Kimberly Winston. Jan 29, Kimberly Winston.
Got something to say about what you're reading? The constrictor then coils around the prey and tightens until the prey dies from suffocation, cardiac arrest or spinal fracture, whichever comes first [source: Team ]. Voluntarily handling snakes that can kill or maim a full-grown human likely takes a certain type of person, whether they're doing it for a living or for God.
Accepting of risk. Not terrified of snakes. But the professionals and the preachers take vastly different approaches to the practice. Professionals tend to put a high premium on the survival of all involved. Safe, humane snake handling is a learned skill.
It's not just about knowing how to hold a snake so it can't bite. It's about knowing snakes. Herpetologists , the scientists who specifically study amphibians and reptiles, typically have advanced degrees in fields related to biology along with additional, reptile-specific training [source: SSAR ]. Experts in snake removal, also called "rescue and relocation," are trained in the identification, behaviors and safe handling of all kinds of snakes in all kinds of environments [source: Animal Ark ].
Among snake "displayers" — those who perform at roadside attractions or conduct other demonstrations, often with audience participation — expertise varies. Not all states regulate the industry. Many snake displayers, however, have been working with snakes for decades, and some are herpetologists [sources: MacGuill , Schudel , Klinkenberg].
Professionals aim to get the job done without anyone, including the snake, getting hurt. This means using tools whenever possible [source: Hunter ]. Extension tools are standard. Snake hooks or tongs can keep a venomous snake out of strike range while moving or displaying it. Veterinarians often secure a snake's head in a soft, clear tube or the entire snake under a mesh panel for exams or treatment [sources: Hunter , Snake Getters ]. Milking, however, invariably requires free-handling : holding a snake with the hands, not tools.
The milker grabs the back of a snake's head, near where the jaw bones meet, with the thumb and index finger. This both immobilizes the head ideally and puts the fingers on the venom glands. She then presses inward on the jaw, forcing the snake's mouth open, and pushes its fangs through a latex membrane stretched over a jar. In milking, there should always be at least two handlers present [source: WHO ]. Backup is smart in any snake-handling context.
Someone might need to dial , drive to a hospital that stocks anti-venom or slightly impede the tail of a Burmese python trying to coil around an aquarium handler while everyone waits for the stun gun to arrive [source: Stein]. For constrictors, experts recommend at least one handler for each 5 feet 1.
When you handle deadly snakes for a living, caution is job one. When you handle snakes for God, it is not. Aside from the presence of snakes, in fact, professional snake handling and "holiness serpent handling" look almost nothing alike.
At his Miami Serpentarium, he put on shows for tourists — but that was really a side gig [sources: Schudel , Martin ].
Despite having no formal science training, Haast was for decades the foremost medical venom supplier in the United States, milking the likes of king cobras, diamondback rattlesnakes, green mambas and blue kraits [sources: Schudel , Hunter ].
After three years and 69, milkings, he delivered the pint of coral-snake venom that led to the first-ever anti-venom for that snake's bite [source: Miami Serpentarium Laboratories ]. Haast eventually turned his own blood into a venom antidote by injecting small amounts of venom every day for decades, and transfusions of his blood saved at least 20 people [source: Wells , Schudel ].
He partnered with a doctor in the '70s to develop venom-derived treatments for conditions like multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's, but despite showing promise they were ultimately banned by the U. Food and Drug Administration [source: Schudel ].
By most accounts, holiness serpent handling dates to the early s in Tennessee and a preacher named George Hensley. He was, legend has it, in the midst of a crisis of faith and one day was grappling with a line from the Gospel of Mark — "They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them" Mark — when he turned and saw a venomous snake.
He was compelled to pick it up. And when he walked away unscathed, his faith was intact [sources: Phillips , Mariani ]. The command, it seemed, was literal, and Hensley spread the word from his pulpit: To fully obey God and therefore be saved, one has to "take up serpents" [source: Loller ].
Followers of the movement also drink strychnine, a "deadly thing" [source: Mariani ]. By the s, serpent handling was fairly widespread in Appalachia. By the s, with practitioner deaths adding up, it was outlawed, but the practice continued [source: Scott ].
Serpent handlers — they prefer "serpent" to "snake" — belong to one of several evangelical churches in the Pentecostal tradition, most prominently the Church of God with Signs Following [source: Lewis ]. They use no tools to handle snakes [sources: Handwerk ]. Laws don't matter. If you receive direction like that, state statutes simply don't matter," Toomey said. Coots pleaded guilty last year to violating Tennessee's exotic animals law and agreed to surrender his snakes. Snake handling does not align with a specific denomination.
Members are generally not required to handle snakes if they don't feel called to and children are prohibited from doing so. Facebook Twitter Email. Show Caption.
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