What is the inat policy of photos that show dangerous behavior? I personally have no problem with people photographing animals in their hands, but sometimes those photos exhibit behavior which presents a threat to the person or the animal. Here’s the post that made me wonder. - https://www.inatur…

To go with this, it’s pretty much impossible to determine the back-story of photos on iNat unless the original person posts those as well. It’s similarly difficult to determine the person’s level of familiarity knowledge of the animal (or plant!) in question. It’s important to encourage responsibl…

The author said that the snake was dead even before you commented, so the case is closed.

Although if you find yourself in a similar position as the author, you might want to be proactive and inform people it’s already dead.

I expressed this same concern in another topic . However, as already mentioned above, the poster stated in the beginning the snake was deceased. It’s usually when no explanation is posted when I get concerned.

I just wanted to call out the original observer for being very gracious with some strong but well-intentioned criticism. Thanks, everybody, for trying to look out for each other. It’s a good reminder to all of us that some context can help other folks interpret what we’re sharing.

This could have been made clear - Dead - when the obs was put on iNat. Then there would have been no issue to discuss.

For what it’s worth, a dead venomous snake can still be dangerous to the handler even if handling in this manner poses no danger to the snake. I’ve handled rattlesnakes, both live and dead, this way but don’t anymore. It’s not something I’d lecture anyone on but I also don’t encourage it.

I don’t think it is up to iNat or the poster of this question. How do you know what the observer’s expertise is with snakes? I think people are allowed to apply their own common sense. If this snake were alive, I certainly wouldn’t handle it, as I am not an expert. But I have certainly watched plen…

I think @bouteloua ’s answer summed things up very well. There isn’t a policy about demonstrations of (possibly) dangerous behavior, but we do reserve the right to remove content if necessary. I don’t think this example is worth taking down, and I think the observer graciously handled the situation, …

Thanks for all the input. His original reply did NOT state that the snake was dead, that statement edited and added after I posted about research showing the danger to the snake of this sort of handling. Furthermore, as someone with 50 years of experience with live (and dead) snakes, I have seriou…

Policy on demonstrations of dangerous behavior?

General

mira_l_b April 22, 2020, 12:56pm 19

If this is/was/could be the case and you or anyone has serious concerns about such an observation, now or in the future, I would highly suggest the immediate course of action to be:

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Policy on demonstrations of dangerous behavior?

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