Ughh...can you REALLY give a Darwin award to a SCIENCE Teacher?

[Horse with no Name]

It is in entrenched fundie East Texas so it is debatable as to what really happened or what "real" credentials this "educator" had.

http://www.heralddemocrat.com/hd/News/Texas/d0655-BC-TX-ClassroomSnakeBit-10-21-0172
>>>snip
Venomous snake bites two students in class

ASSOCIATED PRESS

BIG SANDY -- Two high school students bitten by a venomous snake in science class are recovering at an East Texas hospital.

School officials in Big Sandy said Tuesday the students were bitten by a cottonmouth snake their teacher had misidentified as non-venomous. They were taken to a hospital Monday when their hands began swelling.

Big Sandy Superintendent Scott Beene said Tuesday the students are OK but remain hospitalized for observation. The snake was given to a nearby zoo.

Beene said the school district would revisit its policies about bringing animals on campus.

[pitohui]

1. whoa in east texas they can't recognize a cottonmouth?

seems to me that the mistake would go the other way, we have mimic water snakes in louisiana that are harmless that try to pose as cottonmouths

but the default is if the snake looks like it might be a cottonmouth you handle it as a cottonmouth

(real cottonmouths tend to be real wide for snakes but i still wouldn't pick up a doubtful snake just because it was skinny, maybe it just didn't eat for awhile)

[yardwork]

2. It's only a Darwin Award if the perpetrator dies.

In this case, two children were hurt while the moran appears to have come through the experience unscathed.

It's hard to imagine any circumstance where bringing a wild snake to school would seem like a good idea. Even if the teacher thought is was a non-venomous snake, most snakes can deliver a nasty bite with the risk of infection.

Like you, I'm wondering what was really going on....

[pitohui]

4. there are snakes that beyond doubt can be identified as harmless

let's not stop children from seeing all snakes because of one fuckwit who doesn't know what a cottonmouth is

[fed_up_mother]

6. My biology class has snakes in it

We also had a couple of aquariums. My teacher really liked critters. :)

[rucky]

3. They were just testing a hypothesis.

sounds like a worthwhile experiment. except for the hospital part.

[juno jones]

5. Like the arrow-shaped head and the slit 'cat-eyes' weren't enough

to identify it as a poisonous species. Duh.

Not to mention the aggressiveness of venomous snakes...

[Fumesucker]

7. Note the triangular shape of the head..

It is the poison glands/sacs that make the head wider at the rear, an identifying characteristic of a great many poisonous snakes. Right offhand I can't think of a single non-poisonous snake that has that head shape.

EPIC FAIL!!

[Crunchy Frog]

8. He'll only be eligible for a Darwin prize if he gets killed by an irate parent.

And he's damn lucky I'm not one of those kids parents.

[ColbertWatcher]

9. When will the fundies stop bringing religion into the science classes?

Now it's the snake handlers!?

:P

[BlueJazz]

10. Reminds me of the Gary Larson Cartoon. (The Far Side)....

"Scorpion Petting Zoo"

:rofl: