Zookeeper DROPS T.blondi - Video

[Tapahtyn]

what a dip<edit>!! I can't believe he didn't own up to his mistake. LOSER

 

[KoffinKat138]

i wish it would have Bit him Before it fell,,the way he Manhandled it

 

[tekkendarklord]

oh wow this guy have absolutely no experience to Ts and hes like "oh this is eggs this is eggs"...he sucks a lot...and also T eggs doesnt come from the spinnerets

 

[mitchnast]

what a buffoon, he exclaimed that the spider "passed some eggs" like it was a highpoint. then starts talking negatively about tarantula owners because they keep the spiders for a "novelty"
seem to me what he was doing was a "novelty" for attention. which, in my oppinion is worse.... AND mishandled an animal to death. AND lied about it.
Seriouslly, he sounded like he was tweaking out on coke.

 

[tekkendarklord]

http://ronmagillwildlife.com/contact.html

send him some hate mail

I say yeah give him a bad and embarassing day.

 

[HerbertWest]

Wow that guy is an idiot...perfect example of how not to handle a t...poor girl

 

[Krystalee]

what a but head

hate mail AWAAAAYYYY

 

[tekkendarklord]

I just gave him my 6th hate mail LOL xD

 

[jpet]

this is pretty old, if anybody can find the old posts on it you'll see that the zoo keeper was sent and responded to emails from members of this board. It seemed like he was sorry for what happened. Accidents can happen.

 

[ArachnidSentinl]

Ugh...that really almost made me sick. Such a shame.

 

[nakazanie]

this video is pretty old..I'm guessing the spider died

Yes, I meant to point out how old it is, thanks.

I am glad to see the reaction here. I actually watched it again and was more horrified. If this were a vid of a keeper mistreating a tiger or something, it would make the 11 o'clock news. A true pity. Poor spidey.

Nak

 

[CodeWilster]

I think you guys are focusing too much on what happened to the spider and not the big picture. Yes he dropped the spider which is terrible and was obviously not the spider's fault, but it is certainly not something he had intended. Although he may not be as "advanced" in T knowledge and handling as all of you, he didn't sound like a complete idiot. I'll bet that the average zookeeper probably thinks their bite is deadly and they live up in trees in the wild stalking birds (and I say that because I have heard an actual zookeper say that, and countless other people; especially LPS employees).

Also think about the amount of attention he was getting. He was obviously very excited, under pressure, nervous, and as somebody else said, he began speaking a heck of a lot faster after the spider had dropped. Something tells me he knew what happened. I doubt he would have said in front of all of those people, the reporter, the cameras, etc. that he just made a completely idiotic mistake and therefore he covered it up with the whole "eggs!" thing---which to me did look like eggs. Again that is my opinion, but before I start mailing the guy a bunch of hate e-mails about how stupid he is, I'll calm down and think about all of the times I've accidentally dropped a spider or did something worse myself.

Keep in mind I feel just as bad for the spider as all of you, hopefully it made it.

~Cody

 

[Ts are #1]

That is pretty terrible that he called us out for keeping exotic pets that makes me mad any animal can give you the joy of a cat or dog, and what a waste of such a pretty t and my parents even knew that something bad just happened and they dont know much about ts. It made me laugh when the reporter in the white said he doesent want to go up there stop forcing him.

 

[Ether Imp]

I think you guys are focusing too much on what happened to the spider and not the big picture. Yes he dropped the spider which is terrible and was obviously not the spider's fault, but it is certainly not something he had intended. Although he may not be as "advanced" in T knowledge and handling as all of you, he didn't sound like a complete idiot. I'll bet that the average zookeeper probably thinks their bite is deadly and they live up in trees in the wild stalking birds (and I say that because I have heard an actual zookeper say that, and countless other people; especially LPS employees).

Also think about the amount of attention he was getting. He was obviously very excited, under pressure, nervous, and as somebody else said, he began speaking a heck of a lot faster after the spider had dropped. Something tells me he knew what happened. I doubt he would have said in front of all of those people, the reporter, the cameras, etc. that he just made a completely idiotic mistake and therefore he covered it up with the whole "eggs!" thing---which to me did look like eggs. Again that is my opinion, but before I start mailing the guy a bunch of hate e-mails about how stupid he is, I'll calm down and think about all of the times I've accidentally dropped a spider or did something worse myself.

Keep in mind I feel just as bad for the spider as all of you, hopefully it made it.

~Cody

Sigh.. I dunno, while I understand and partially agree with the points you made, I think what happened here is inexcusible. This guy is supposed to be an expert. But if you look at the big picture, all this comes down to is money.

-Zoo's spend millions of dollars capturing wild animals.
-Zoo's aim to make money off of the keeping of these animals.
-Many times the Zoo's underpay their employees and therefor hire employees which are under-educated or completely unqualified to handle the majority of the animals in their "care".
-To promote their Zoo and boost ticket sales, they do crappy little segments on local news stations because they're having a slow news day..
-Unqualified employee, bright lights, the anxiety of being broadcast across the city/state = prone to make a mistake.


I'm sure this guy has a fair amount of 'overall' animal knowledge and I'm sure it was not his intention to hurt the tarantula, but he definitely handled the situation poorly by attempting to let a gravid female Blondi crawl up his arm. . Even one of the reporters said "She doesn't want to go there!" or something to that effect.. which, he may have been kidding, but he hit the nail on the head. The T was nervous as well. If the proper care of these animals is his job he should take as little risk as possible.. Just as you and I would do as owners.

I'm sure I'll catch some crap for saying this, but personally I dislike zoo's and will not contribute to their cause(s). They're a business like any other. Their goal is to make money. They do not have the best interest of the animals they keep in mind.

 

[nakazanie]

Sigh.. I dunno, while I understand and partially agree with the points you made, I think what happened here is inexcusible. This guy is supposed to be an expert. But if you look at the big picture, all this comes down to is money.

-Zoo's spend millions of dollars capturing wild animals.
-Zoo's aim to make money off of the keeping of these animals.
-Many times the Zoo's underpay their employees and therefor hire employees which are under-educated or completely unqualified to handle the majority of the animals in their "care".
-To promote their Zoo and boost ticket sales, they do crappy little segments on local news stations because they're having a slow news day..
-Unqualified employee, bright lights, the anxiety of being broadcast across the city/state = prone to make a mistake.


I'm sure this guy has a fair amount of 'overall' animal knowledge and I'm sure it was not his intention to hurt the tarantula, but he definitely handled the situation poorly by attempting to let a gravid female Blondi crawl up his arm. . Even one of the reporters said "She doesn't want to go there!" or something to that effect.. which, he may have been kidding, but he hit the nail on the head. The T was nervous as well. If the proper care of these animals is his job he should take as little risk as possible.. Just as you and I would do as owners.

I'm sure I'll catch some crap for saying this, but personally I dislike zoo's and will not contribute to their cause(s). They're a business like any other. Their goal is to make money. They do not have the best interest of the animals they keep in mind.

Interesting discussion! It's nice to have it without a flame war.

Good points. I go back and forth about zoos. I think some are quite good and have an excellent mission. I also agree that the handler in this vid was not trying to hurt the spider, but maybe he got in over his head because of the spotlight and should have known better? I don't know. I like to hear people's opinions on this, though.

Nak

 

[vvx]

Heh, this guy will probably get hate email for 20 years as new people discover the video. Personally, I think there's a limitation in how long after the fact hate mail should be written. At least for things like this.

 

[jbm150]

This was brutal to watch. The poor blondi

I live here in south florida and hear Ron Magill all the time on radio shows, tv, and such. He really does care for the animals but he's just really excitable. He has a penchant sometimes for being sensational and here, apparently, very careless. Its clear he had very little clue about keeping Ts. Even most of us here know that there are guidelines when handling blondis and other large terrestrials due to their fragility. Its his JOB to know the proper care of ALL of his animals.

When it fell, he had a very brief window to either save face (they're eggs, we're gonna have babies!) or own up to it (despite being large imposing spiders, they're actually very fragile animals). For his own sake and the sake of the zoo where he is employed, he had to pretend like all was ok. He's used to working with reptiles and other animals, this just highlights a problem that courses through the entire exotics hobby. While they'll take the time to learn about caring for vertebrates, I think so many view tarantulas as being just another bug. Its a shame, really.

Oh, and he should have said it was scared and taking a crap

 

[JC50]

This guy is an ass clown and it is too bad the Blondi couldn`t have tagged him before it was put back into the KK.

 

[Mr. Gone]

I think you guys are focusing too much on what happened to the spider and not the big picture. Yes he dropped the spider which is terrible and was obviously not the spider's fault, but it is certainly not something he had intended. Although he may not be as "advanced" in T knowledge and handling as all of you, he didn't sound like a complete idiot. I'll bet that the average zookeeper probably thinks their bite is deadly and they live up in trees in the wild stalking birds (and I say that because I have heard an actual zookeper say that, and countless other people; especially LPS employees).

Also think about the amount of attention he was getting. He was obviously very excited, under pressure, nervous, and as somebody else said, he began speaking a heck of a lot faster after the spider had dropped. Something tells me he knew what happened. I doubt he would have said in front of all of those people, the reporter, the cameras, etc. that he just made a completely idiotic mistake and therefore he covered it up with the whole "eggs!" thing---which to me did look like eggs. Again that is my opinion, but before I start mailing the guy a bunch of hate e-mails about how stupid he is, I'll calm down and think about all of the times I've accidentally dropped a spider or did something worse myself.

Keep in mind I feel just as bad for the spider as all of you, hopefully it made it.

~Cody
__________________

But this guy is supposed to be an expert. Not to mention he was serving as a sort of Tarantula ambassador. I agree with the person who said if it would have been a tiger being mistreated, his reputation would be in serious jeopardy; so why is it excusable for a T?

 

[sean-820]

It does seem that he or somebody has clearly held the t before though as it didnt do a threat didplay or i didnt see any hairs kicked. I do agree it was retarded to even handle a gravid female in the first place. I can see why he would say they were eggs as he doesnt want to tell people on tv he possibly killed a t. Hopefully the guy he handed it to was able to mend the wound.


This video reminds me of why i handle t's while sitting on the floor preferably with some padding under just incase.