Snakebusters – news updates … (most recent first)

Oct 2008 – Another award for a Snakebusters employee?
Adelyn Hoser wins first prize at the Swan Hill Show pet competition. Her entry was the world's first devenomized Inland Taipan, making her the first nine year old to enter the world's deadliest snake in a pet contest.! The prize was a ribbon, certificate and prize money of a dollar. The year before someone else entered a Snakebusters Olive Python to take out first prize.

Oct 2008 – Black snakes in the news for the wrong reasons.
In NSW a "tong grabber" named George Ellis was bitten by a Red Bellied Black Snake and carted off to hospital for a dose of anti-venom. These snakes rarely bite and when they do, it's invariably as a result of extreme pain inflicted on the snake, such as when having ribs broken with the metal back breakers. In other words, tongs aren't just dangerous for snakes, but for snake handlers as well!
In the latest of a series of safety breaches by newly licenced novice snake demonstrators, a Black Snake (not devenomized) escaped from a cage at the 2008 Melbourne Show. It wasn't established how it "escaped", but sometime later the snake was found wandering around a crowded pavillion. A serious bite from the snake could have been the excuse needed to close down all live reptile demonstrations. The newly licenced demonstrator was also in contravention of the OH and S Act, section 32, for having the venomous snake (with venom) there in the first instance.

Oct 2008 – Snakebusters outdraws rival operators (again)!
In a four cornered contest, Snakebusters consistently outdrew rival reptile demonstrators at other venues. Three other companies at other Melbourne malls and similar venues, drew average crowds of under 100 people per show. At Parkmore shopping mall, snakebusters drew an average of 250 per show for an entire week. Snakeman Raymond Hoser said "live reptiles", experience and "hands on" where people hold reptiles, will always outdraw any "mobile zoo" where it is merely a show, tell and touch if you get lucky. Malls across Melbourne are now on their second or third rotations of Snakebusters, with an average cycle of about 2 years.

Oct 2008 – Victory for the good guys!
An attempt to deregister Raymond Hoser's trademarks by David Williams, a man with serious smuggling and animal cruelty convictions has failed. Throughout 2008, he had tried to raise objections through the trademarks register to Raymond Hoser's ownership of the trademarks "Snakeman" (in various categories) as registered and owned by Hoser for some time. This failed campaign, included numerous online posts, letters to relevant persons, including appeals to object to IP Australia and the like. Raymond Hoser countered the attack by serving notice that persons illegally using tongs to brutalize, injure and kill snakes should under no circumstances use the word "snakeman" to describe themself. Likewise for others who may in any way dilute the trademark's effectiveness with unethical, cruel or illegal actions if and when calling themselves a "Snakeman".
The two trademarks at the centre of the dispute, were confirmed and sealed by IP Australia (the trademarks registrar) in October 2008. Another Hoser owned "Snakeman" trademark, registered and protected for some time, was largely unaffected by the recent dispute, although Williams did try to have that one set aside as well.

Sept 2008 – Whiteboards rule OK at DSE!
At a one-week VCAT hearing that cost the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of dollars, DSE staff said repeatedly that live reptile demonstrations were not the best way to educate people about reptiles. Under the guidance of departmental head, Ron Waters and others, DSE lawyer, Ms. Greenham argued to Anne Coghlan (the VCAT "Judge") that the educational message could be just as effective by dispensing with live reptiles and instead using a whiteboard! Coghlan bought this and the other insane DSE arguments. Raymond Hoser and other Snakebusters staff opposed the submission, which was the latest attack on the rights of the Victorians to keep live reptiles and/or have access to them. Teachers also opposed the crazy DSE submission, which in turn led to the comment, "what would they know?".
DSE also said they would continue to change laws to suit their agenda as they saw fit, which actually occurred midway through the VCAT matter. This all means that the days of private ownership of reptiles in Victoria may be limited. DSE are apparantly taking advice sourced from David Williams, a man with serious convictions for animal cruelty and wildlife smuggling, who also happened to be adversely named in both "Smuggled" books. In her later judgement Coghlan made a number of rulings in line with what DSE had requested. These were that the Hoser venomoids were still venomous and dangerous (in the first part of her judgement), with Coghlan stating that evidence from veterinarians, autopsies, test results and videos of bites by Taipans on Hoser and so on, did not consititute a shred of evidence to support the contention the venomoids were in fact harmless. This of course makes Raymond Hoser better than Jesus Christ or God himself, in that he has been able to survive dozens of bites from world's deadliest snakes without ill effect or any medical treatment or antivenom. Remember, the best Jesus Christ could do, was walk on water!
Hedging her bets both ways, later in the (written) judgement, Coghlan ruled that Hoser cannot hand out (what she asserts are now harmless) venomoids to people, because her competitors can't do this. DSE and Coghlan are no doubt hoping not too many people actually examine her judgement! The final upshot of the VCAT matter is the following:

1 - That Snakebusters will have to reduce their industry leading standards to comply with DSE demands (by using new barriers, restricting "hands on" to the public by (now) refusing to hand out specified taxa of reptiles, and the like),
2 - As intended by the DSE (and the persons pushing them), Snakebusters may lose business to inferior rivals,
3 - Any snakebite deaths arising from the activities of other demonstrators, including those not using venomoids, either at their events or arising from them due to improper teachings, will leave the DSE and the Victorian Government legally liable for damages (due to several reasons), (see October release above),
4 - Snakebusters will seek avenues of redress to maximise educational benefits of their demonstrations and public access of wildlife as per the preamble of the Wildlife Act,
5 - Besides aspects of the Coghlan judgement being blatently false in terms of factual account and also dishonest, it is also illegal under various state and Federal laws in several respects.
6 - The DSE may move to the next phase of a medium term agenda (peddled by rivals of Hoser/Snakebusters) to outlaw the rights of private persons to keep live reptiles and other wildlife.
By the way, the money DSE wasted on the VCAT matter could have been better spent saving our endangered wildlife!

Aug 2008 – Nothing shuts up an idiot!
See the video below ... To convincingly prove the Hoser venomoid (devenomized) snakes lack venom and don't regenerate it, Raymond Hoser was filmed by Melbourne TV news bulletins forcing nearly 40 venmomoids to bite him, all done three times in succession (over 100 bites), including world's top five deadliest, numerous times. This was done at Niddrie Secondary College in front of a huge audience of students and teachers. Hoser's arm was a mass of holes, but as expected Hoser didn't get sick or die!
A week later at a VCAT hearing, a DSE employed lawyer by the name of Greenham, successfully argued for a week that the Hoser venomoids were still deadly. VCAT Deputy President Coghlan, totally ignorant of snakes accepted the DSE request to disallow an examination of the said venomoids at the tribunal and refused to allow a repeat performance of the mass bites in her tribunal. She instead seemed convinced that the DSE lies about venom regeneration (sourced from smuggler David Williams and sidekick Shane Hunter via their internet website) had merit. Indicative of her general ignorance of snakes was her stated belief that Carpet Pythons were a dangerously venomous species during an argument to the effect that Hoser was reckless for not rushing a baby to hospital after it was bitten by a baby carpet python that didn't even pierce the skin!
Showing what kind of a moron Coghlan was, she also got very upset when an expert witness repeatedly told her that venomoid snakes don't regenerate venom as they have no venom glands. At that stage of the proceedings she still believed the lie that the snakes were venomous and dangerous.
The video below was shot at Norwood SC in 2008!

April 2008 – Over 100 baby snakes from venomoid parents at Snakebusters have in the previous 2 years been distributed for free to zoos and private facilities across Australia. If you see a Tiger Snake or Brown snake at a zoo or elsewhere, chances are it has come from Snakebusters!

March 2008 – Raymond Hoser becomes the first person in history to survive three Inland Taipan bites when bitten in front of an audience on 30 March. As an add-on, he never needed anti-venom for any, which was also apparently a world first for any such bite from the species which happens to be the world’s deadliest! While the snakes were devenomized or “venomoid” using Hoser’s world-leading methods, because the web is littered with false claims that these snakes regenerate venom and/or that they have venom and their mouths are shut with superglue, it is appropriate to make a big deal about surviving the bites in order to negate the idiot comments we get our attention drawn to. By the way, if the snakes did in fact have venom, most of Snakebusters staff would also be dead by now!

Jan 2008 – Raymond Hoser’s ground-breaking Artificial Insemination trials succeed. Snakebusters have world first reptile breedings using AI, in various reptiles including Bluetongues and Tiger Snakes in the summer of 2007/8! Major paper first published in January 2008.

Nov 2007 – Raymond Hoser reports the world’s first cross-genus matings in venomous elapid snakes in a scientific journal.

September 2007 – Snakebusters was rebooked at The Glen shopping mall for another week of shows, in spite of the false claims made to derail the booking/s (see earlier dates for 2006). Most Centro and other malls were by that stage in their second rotation of the successful Snakebusters shows, who continue/d to enjoy an effective monopoly on wildlife shows in malls, due to the reality and perception that no other reptile show is remotely as good as Snakebusters.

April 2007 – Due to increased demand from Shopping malls for the excellent educational shows by Snakebusters, Snakebusters for the first time double books malls in the April School holidays. Due to the success of the four mall bookings (a week per mall) across a fortnight, this was repeated in later school holidays in 2007.

April 2007 – Red Hill Show regulars, Snakebusters not booked in 2006 and 2007. Inferior outfit “Snakehandler” at event. Crowd numbers drop by over half in two years with change of reptile demonstrator blamed as the cause by local news media! The same thing happened at the Orbost and Ballarat Shows.

Jan 2007 – Snakebusters headhunted as “Australia’s best” as main act at the National Scout Jamboree.

October 2007 – In an independent survey of reptile and wildlife demonstrators, Snakebusters is rated “the best” in all criteria, as published in the Leader Newspapers. A similar statement rating Snakebusters as “the best” was made in the rival Fairfax newspapers a couple of years earlier. Later media reports comparing reptile shows/demonstrations consistently rated Snakebusters as the best.

July 2007 – As a result of lobbying by inferior business rivals, the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) seek to severely curtail and outlaw much of the “hands on” at reptile demonstrations as pioneered by Raymond Hoser/Snakebusters. With the support of school teachers and other educators, as well as massive numbers of petitions and signatures, Snakebusters says “no” and takes the matter to VCAT. Case continues into 2008.

November 2006 – Following on from the aborted raids at The Glen shopping mall, newly licenced demonstrators “Snakehandler” successfully lobby various authorities to outlaw venomous snake shows on the basis that Snakebusters have “an unfair competitive advantage”. Snakebusters resist these moves with general success.

March 2006 – Newly licenced demonstrator’s arrange to have Snakebusters “raided” during a show at The Glen Shopping mall, falsely alleging safety risks to initiate the raids. Raiding were officers from the Department of Sustainability, Worksafe, RSPCA, child protection agencies and others. Snakebusters and devenomized snakes were approved of as totally safe. Raids backfire on rivals with Worksafe at same time outlawing use of deadly species not devenomized for public demonstrations on safety grounds, thereby handing Snakebusters a Victorian monopoly on such shows.

January 2006 – World’s first breeding of surgically devenomized snakes, in this case namely Browns, Tigers and Death Adders by Snakebusters/Raymond Hoser. Later on other devenomized snakes of other species were also bred.

December 2005 – Hoser wins trademark battle. Prospero film productions, Bruce George and TV networks pay Hoser $39,500 for misuse of his trademark in TV show “Snakebuster”. Hoser retains all trademarks.

September 2005 – World First – Raymond Hoser details in scientific paper a pecking order or “hierarchy” among snakes of different taxa.

March 2004 – Major paper published. Raymond Hoser is the man who does the world’s first successful venomoid (snake devenomizing operations), involving the world’s deadliest snakes. Hoser rivals make false claims against the operation, including that it is impossible, with the claims believed by many. Meanwhile, Hoser refuses to do operations for others, often causing offence to those who are refused, but the operation is successfully copied by others, mainly in the USA and re-reported as same in major medical texts, including Mader 2006.

Aug 2003 and Nov 2003/June 2004, major papers by Raymond Hoser naming more new taxa of pythons.

August 2003 – Leading Herpetologist Raymond Hoser discovers and names a radically different new species of Brown Snake from Western New South Wales (Pseudonaja elliotti).

June 2003 – Biosecurity threat to Australia’s reptiles. For first time ever, Raymond Hoser identifies spread of virus through reptile collections and identifies source in NSW. See original paper from June 2003 and later ones.

April 2003 – Pseudonaja textillis pughi, a new subspecies of Brown Snake from New Guinea discovered and named by Raymond Hoser. Status confirmed in later paper by other authors.

September 2002 – Raymond Hoser names more new species of Death Adders in scientific paper. Confirmed later by MtDNA and other studies by independent scientists.

May 2002 – Raymond Hoser names new subspecies of Taipan from NW Australia.

Dec 2000 – Herpetologist Raymond Hoser exterminates a species of snake from Irian Jaya/New Guinea. He does this by renaming it a new species, namely Pailsus rossignollii. Later papers by other scientists confirm Hoser’s findings using Mitochondrial DNA studies. Pailsus rossignollii had been previously misidentified as “King Brown Snakes” a species found restricted to Australia and actually substantially different.

October 2000 – Major paper. Raymond Hoser reclassifies Australasian pythons naming several new taxa. Most prominent of these was a black python from New Guinea, formerly unnamed, as “Leiopython hoserae”. Several independent studies to 2008 confirm this and other findings in the 2000 paper.

September 1998 – Raymond Hoser names a new species of Deadly Snake “Pailsus pailsei” in honour of herpetologist Roy Pails. Unethical attempts by serial liar and convicted wildlife smuggler David John Williams to have the “Hoser name” removed, failed as the ICZN rules prohibited what Williams attempted.

April 1998 – Mr Death Adder, Raymond Hoser publishes a major study (paper) naming five new species of Death Adder, the largest number of new species of Death Adder ever! Later published MtDNA studies from the WA Museum and European scientists confirmed Hoser’s new taxa.

September 1997 – As a result of the Smuggled books published by Raymond Hoser, the NSW government ends a 24 year ban on the legal ownership of reptiles by private people in NSW. The government is flooded with new licence applications by the public.

April 1997 – Raymond Hoser improperly jailed for writing books exposing police and judicial corruption in Victoria. Released four months later. Cleared by Supreme Court of Appeal in 2001. The three relevant books were published in June 1994 and 1999 (2 books).

Dec 1996 – Attempts to ban the best-selling “Smuggled-2” through the NSW Supreme court failed three times in Nov/Dec that year. NPWS NSW and the State Government of NSW then put under renewed pressure as a result of the book to legalize private ownership of reptiles in NSW.

May 1993 – “Smuggled – The Underground Trade in Australia’s Wildlife” first published. Book was illegally banned by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), but media pressure forced the ban to be lifted a month later. It became a best-seller! For the first time in 20 years NPWS was under immense pressure to legalize private ownership of reptiles in NSW, including allow the public the right to have “hands on” with reptiles in education. Similar happened in all other Australian states including Victoria, where the book forced a major relaxing of reptile-related restrictions against the public.

September 1991 – “Endangered Animals of Australia” by Raymond Hoser, a 240 page encyclopedic reference on the subject hit the bookshelves. With minimal publicity, the title sold out within months. Australia Post put out a series of stamps of some of the animals in the book and sold the book to subscribers, but also ran out quickly.

September 1989 – The “Reptile Bible” is published. The 240 page “Australian Reptiles and Frogs” by Raymond Hoser was an instant hit, selling the entire print run within a short period. Hoser was then commissioned by the same publisher to do two more books, both later published.

June 1982 – “Death Adder Services” was first registered as a business name. This was the first Raymond Hoser business enterprise with reptiles and a precurser to later ventures and business names, including “Snakebusters”.

March 1980 – Raymond Hoser publishes a major paper on snakes aggregations in a peer reviewed scientific journal. He has averaged about 10 major papers per year in the following three decades. In the period 1995 to present, he has consistently rated within the top five most frequently cited Australian herpetologists in other herpetologists papers and books.