# Grace Wiley



## sweet lu (Oct 3, 2003)

what are your views on Grace Wileys work, she worked with snakes and reptiles of all sorts and was finally killed at age 64 by a king cobra with a G on its hood that didnt like her taking off her glasses

i think her work is very interesting but also very dangerouse and shouldnt be attmepted by most


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## gourami-master (Apr 1, 2004)

thats true most people shouldnt do that kind of dangerous work just like noobs with little kids they get piranha and the little kid sticks his hand in the tank and they tear apart his hand so if you want to do this you gotta know a lot about reptiles


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## Xenon (Nov 15, 2002)

gourami-master said:


> thats true most people shouldnt do that kind of dangerous work just like noobs with little kids they get piranha and the little kid sticks his hand in the tank and they tear apart his hand so if you want to do this you gotta know a lot about reptiles


 actually your comments about piranha are the farthest thing from accurate.


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## CrocKeeper (Dec 26, 2003)

Grace Olive Wiley......

Ahh Lu... you opened a can of worms here...



> what are your views on Grace Wileys work, she worked with snakes and reptiles of all sorts and was finally killed at age 64 by a king cobra with a G on its hood that didnt like her taking off her glasses
> 
> i think her work is very interesting but also very dangerouse and shouldnt be attmepted by most


Grace was an entomology student who started out deathly afraid of snakes...while collecting in TX she was asked to collect some snakes, needless to say she overcame her ophidiophobia and came to love them above almost anything else. Her love and fascination with snakes would take over her entire life from there forward. She was NOT a good example of how to keep and maitain snakes however, for she was an avid "free-handler" and would feed and water many venomous taxa from spoons.... she did a brief stint as a curator, but lost it as cobras and other venomous goodies, would constantly be left out, or their enclosures open. She had a gift without doubt, and she did gain some time on the silver screen in the original Tarzan... the scene with the little Indian Fakir working the King cobra, was actually Grace herself, as they could not find any one who would sit in front of the real snake except her!!!!

Her demise was indeed from a G marked cobra Lu, but it was NOT a king cobra ( Ophiophagus hannah), it was a Monocelate Cobra (Naja kaouthia), the snake that bit her and resulted in her death was a newly aquired specimen and she was hesitant to bring it out and work with it, but the individual who was there for some photographs, was a freind of Grace's and asked her if he could get some pictures of her with that particular snake because of the abnormal occelli making a "G".....

Bottom line, free-handling is bad, she paid for it with her life, as do others. She was a remarkable woman who lived a remarkable life, and I think I will go toss back some pints of guiness in her honor...

Cheers Grace...


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

I would be happy to drink some dark beer as well (for Grace and other fallen herpers, recently a couple friends of mine, I think Conant as well)

Lesson within the lesson (and I'm joking, no disrespect due); don't mess with snakes that have your initial(s) on them! If I see a cobra with "acestro" written across its back, I'm outta there!!!

Cool background CK, I wasn't aware of this fascinating person.


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## sweet lu (Oct 3, 2003)

your right about being inresponsable about just free handleing, and just letting them roam but all of her snakes were in great health, and she did more than snakes, any reptile and amphibian she had

people a while ago after she died tried to start a memorial zoo i believe for all her snakes and stuff but they were all auctioned off

even thouhg i dont have enough balls to do what she did and that it was very irresponsable i still respect her and her work


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

cool info
but with a shitty end


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## Peacock (Feb 23, 2004)

gourami-master said:


> thats true most people shouldnt do that kind of dangerous work just like noobs with little kids they get piranha and the little kid sticks his hand in the tank and they tear apart his hand so if you want to do this you gotta know a lot about reptiles


 LOL.... this has probly NEVER happened in the history of fishkeeping..

advice, dont talk out your ass please


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## micus (Jan 7, 2004)

gourami-master said:


> thats true most people shouldnt do that kind of dangerous work just like noobs with little kids they get piranha and the little kid sticks his hand in the tank and they tear apart his hand so if you want to do this you gotta know a lot about reptiles


 just curious how much do u know about piranha ?, and how old are u ? cause if youve ever owned a piranha for even an hour , u would know that like the oposite is true,


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## Polypterus (May 4, 2003)

Grace Wiley was an idiot in all regards, (Can of worms open)

She is but a sign of her time which she wears the patch of honor well,
Conqure nature was her trade. she was a product of Chimp shows and
Elephant rides. Concepts of the past gone wrong.

Hopefully the rest of us have evolved past that mentality by now.


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## sweet lu (Oct 3, 2003)

did you know that the snake that killed her was auctioned off to a sideshow, with clowns and freaky people and stuff

i wonder if the snake is still alive today?


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## CrocKeeper (Dec 26, 2003)

> Grace Wiley was an idiot in all regards, (Can of worms open)
> 
> She is but a sign of her time which she wears the patch of honor well,
> Conqure nature was her trade. she was a product of Chimp shows and
> ...


tell us how you really feel poly.....


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

that's part of why poly is considered such a hottie


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## sweet lu (Oct 3, 2003)

piranha45 said:


> that's part of why poly is considered such a hottie


 hey poly *winks eye*


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

sweet lu said:


> piranha45 said:
> 
> 
> > that's part of why poly is considered such a hottie
> ...


 What is wrong with you guys?

The idea of conquering nature is unfortunately far from gone. Want a bigger can of worms? How about the idea that God put animals on this earth simply for the purpose of our use? That concept has been used and abused, particularly in rural areas.


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

well that's simply a matter of religious belief. Religion is obviously detrimental, to say the least, in many regards.


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## CrocKeeper (Dec 26, 2003)

It never ceases to amaze me how fast a thread is capable of degrading.
I believe that this one has run its course...


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