Public, for all to see
In light of the drama, many people have said I should have just presented myself in a calm manner from the offset, and the drama would have been avoided. While I disagree that I should ever have to put a stopper in my feelings just the benefit of online strangers, its seems that even a few people I DO like and respect have been confused about exactly what it is I do believe, due to the amount of mis-quoting, paraphrasing and word twisting that has gone on. I found myself typing out the same responses again and again for people who hadn't read the whole thing, or had heard something else from someone else. For those people, calm, rational, clarification.
Comments disabled, as should have been done from the offset, my bad.
But sicpuppy, you HATE snakes don't you?
No. I like snakes. I’m not sure where this idea of me hating snakes comes from, but I've seen people supposedly QUOTING me on hating snakes, which I've never, ever said.
I worked with snakes for over a year, found them interesting creatures, can even see the appeal of having them as pets! I even, god forbid, went through a stage of quite fancying having a corn snake. We'll go into why I didn't go through with it later, but the point remains: I have nothing against snakes.
The fact that they eat rats doesn't actually bother me as such. Cats will eat rats if they catch one, and I have 2 cats of my own that I adore. Wolves will also eat rats, given the chance, and guess what? They're one of my favourite animals!
What I don't like is NOT the snake; it’s the owners who live feed them.
The snake cannot be blamed for eating what is put in front of it. The owner is the one at fault. And in fact, if you care to click here, you can see a snake which was attacked by a live MOUSE that someone attempted to feed it:
http://www.shadowrat.com/rats/ballchew2.jpg
Even if you have no passion for the animals you feed the snake, then at the very least, do not subject your snake to this. This is partly why most responsible herp owners are anti-live.
There is also a REASON it is illegal here in the UK.
But sicpuppy, its NATURAL for a snake to eat a live rat!
This is the one that really bugs me.
Yes, in the wild, it is perfectly natural for a snake to eat a live, wild rat.
However, there is NOTHING natural about what goes on in your typical pet snake feeding.
For a start, the rats a wild snake finds are also wild rats. They are more alert and accustomed to being preyed upon, and most importantly, they have the chance to get away. Some rats that are preyed upon by snakes actually end up escaping.
A domestic rat is not as accustomed to the idea of being prey. It is a domestic animal. Domestic rats are very trusting; they trust the human who is holding them not to harm them. Then that human goes and dumps them into a glass box with a snake where they cannot possibly escape, and then dares to use 'nature!!!' as their excuse.
Nature has nothing to do with a captive situation. Snakes are actually prey for some species too, in nature. But I don't see snake owners getting large birds of prey to fly over their snake's enclosure to give it a feel of what it’s like to be preyed upon, as would happen in nature.
If you're going to use nature as your excuse, then you cannot decide which bits of nature you wish to utilise, and which you don't. If what is natural was your over-riding concern, you would not keep a snake in the first place.
If you're going to live feed, please do not try and argue that to do so is natural. It’s natural for a wild snake to prey on a wild rat, where both parties are fully adapted to this struggle, and both parties have the chance to opt out.
A domestic rat trapped in a glass box is not the same thing.
I understand 'the circle of life' very well, thanks, and I certainly never said anything about how a)all animals that eat rats should die or b) snakes should become vegetarian.
Come on, thats absurd.
What happens in nature, happens. We cannot change it, nor should we seek to. Nature knows what its doing.
But when you take a snake captive as a pet, we are not in 'nature' anymore. We are people messing about with nature. Your typical feeder rat is no different to my rats outside, and I know how terrified mine would be at the smell of the damn thing alone.
I do not agree with snakes being in captivity, so I do not, in actual fact, condone letting them 'starve to death'. I condone leaving them be, as wild animals, and admiring them from afar so the situation of 'which life is more important, rat or snake?' isn't our issue or our decision to make.
Its nature's.
But SicPuppy, didn't you say that you didn't agree with keeping snakes yet you apparently agree with keeping rats!
No, I actually don't agree with keeping snakes as pets, or most exotics. And the reason is purely for the animal's benefit. This is also why I never got that corn snake I wanted, that and the feeding.
You see, a rat is an adaptable animal, with regards to its environment. This is why they are so successful; they can adapt, and manage to happily live anywhere.
A wild rat can spend up to 22 hours a day just sleeping. When they emerge, they do so purely to find food, water, or a mate. They do not emerge just to dance about in the moonlight or have fun. That’s far too risky for a prey animal.
A rat has no natural environment; they can and will live wherever they like. They live in people's attics, or in the depths of the forest. They live in the dumpsters behind KFC, or in a river bank. Wherever they have a good supply of food, they will be.
Rats naturally need some very basic things to be happy: food, water, companionship, space to move and explore, a nice comfy nest, and things to stimulate their brain.
I can provide all of this extremely easily in a captive setting. And rats, being so adaptable, thrive as domestic pets. Hell, even WILD rats will often choose to live alongside humans!
Snakes, however, are not half as adaptable. They are specialised, some species more so than others. Whereas I can create what a wild rat would have naturally just within my own home, can any of us re-create what a snake would naturally have? A rainforest? A desert? Trees, room to move about (especially for a large snake: can your 12 foot Burmese python actually get more than halfway across the living room floor before it has to turn back again? If its even allowed out of its enclosure.)
We simply cant.
Snakes are sensitive, specialised exotics. The polar opposite of rats, who are one of the most adaptable, successful, omnipotent animals on earth.
Even when I worked with reptiles, including corn snakes, a burmese python, californian king snakes, bearded dragons, blue tongued skinks, leopard geckos, and iguanas, we were told by our tutor that these animals, in her opinion, should never be captive, or domestic pets.
And she had a passion for reptiles. So do not assume it is simply me being someone who doesn't understand reptiles so just wants to get them OUT. Its precisely because I AM an animal lover that I don't want to see them in glass tanks in people's living rooms in the middle of birmingham.
Having a captive rat is a symbiotic relationship. Rats are pack animals, and they naturally have an urge to be with an alpha animal, which is their owner. I can walk into my rat room and have 17 little faces all shoving each other aside to get to me first. I can have a rat sleeping on my lap, licking my hand and grooming me as if I were another rat because I am his alpha. Observe:
http://www.shadowrat.com/rats/toes11.jpg
http://www.shadowrat.com/rats/satjan10.jpg
http://www.shadowrat.com/rats/satjan16.jpg
etc, etc
I've actually had a rat pine to death when I went on holiday for a week.
Rats enjoy being with their humans as much, or maybe even more, than we enjoy being with them. They are social animals.
Snakes, it seems to me, are kept captive purely because the owner wants to have a snake as a pet. Snakes don't seem to actually GET anything out of being captive. A snake would just as rather be in the wild where it belongs, and it certainly won't pine for its missed owner. In fact, it probably doesn't give a shit about its owner. They are a different animal completely. I see no benefit to the actual snake in keeping it captive, and I don't think we can adequately cater for their needs in our living rooms.
This is not about me 'not liking snakes' or not respecting them as interesting animals. This is about animal welfare, and for the benefit of the snake, AND the benefit of the domestic rat it is fed, I don't think they should be cooped up in our homes.
Several animal welfare organisations now frown on pet snakes, particularly the large ones.
The Humane Society of the United States is one such organisation.
For an example, there is a reason the domestic dog is a universally accepted pet, but a Siberian tiger isn't. Oh, it’s perfectly legal to keep a tiger as a pet in some states, or a wolf, or a bear. But is this fair on the animal?
That’s how I view snakes. No matter what your stance, there is a huge difference between them, AND their needs, and rats.
Keeping ANY pet isn't natural; I never ever proposed that keeping rats WAS! But then the whole 'nature' thing only started when the live feeders used it as their excuse for what they do; it wasn't me who started that one!
But sicpuppy, really, they're JUST rats....
And a child is JUST a child. A dog is JUST a dog. If you do not understand or relate to someone's passion, it really is best that you don't judge it. I’m quite well used to the idea that 95% of people cannot relate to the idea of a rat being so important. Most of them can't even wrap their head around the idea of them as PETS. I don't even expect them to, as unless you have taken the time to really bond with a rat, you will probably just think of them as nasty, verminous beasts. Oddly, everyone I know who is a true rat lover agrees with me on this live feeding thing.
I’m not even saying people SHOULD understand me. I don't care if they do or not. But they should not judge my feelings because, with all due respect, I am sure I know how I feel about this more than you do.
Well, you should really never have said the thing about wanting to kill a live feeder, that makes you look crazy!
Accepted, it probably DOES make me look crazy to most people. I never expected people to flock around me and tell me they'd do exactly the same.
But what I said is the truth.
Trust me, I would not say something like that on a whim, or unless I absolutely meant it. I’m not stupid. I knew people would find that distasteful, about as distasteful as I find live feeding, presumably! So I would not have said it, and risked trolling, if I didn't mean it. And I knew full well there would likely be backlash, knew from word one. But it is my 100% true feelings on the subject, and I am not going to censor myself for the benefit of strangers online, particularly not on my OWN da page. The day I put a stopper in my opinions for the benefit of people I don't even know or care about is a long way off.
I wish I didn't care as much as I do. The amount of times I've told people that I really wish I DIDN'T feel this strongly, because it ultimately causes me a lot of emotional pain. Imagine something you love like a child being killed, abused, tortured on a daily basis, and often LEGALLY!
It is soul destroying.
If I could click my fingers and make it so I didn't feel QUITE so bonded to rats, I would. It would make my life a lot easier. But meh, that’s the way it is.
A parent is allowed to come on the news and tell the world that if she ever encountered the person who killed her child, she would do horrendous things to him. And people nod, and sympathise, and feel sorry for the mother. No-one judges HER as a psycho.
I propose the same, just for the people who kill MY babies, and I’m suddenly a nutjob?
It doesn't work like that, I’m afraid. My passion is not WRONG just because it is over something YOU cannot relate to. It would not suddenly be a-ok if I was talking this way about a child, but its OmG psycho if it’s over a rat.
You may well think 'a rat isn't a damn child! Its not the same!'
But to me IT IS. And until you can prove me wrong, best you take my word for it :P
The fact remains: it’s either twisted to want to harm another human, or it isn't. It doesn't matter what its over.
Oh, I KNOW it’s not a popular opinion, I KNOW people just won't get it, I even KNOW people will think I’m a psycho, but there it is. I think live feeders are psychos, so looks like we all just have to accept that our passions differ on this one. I'll accept you think Im a psycho, you accept I think live feeders are psychos.
Moot point anyway, since I almost certainly WOULD be caught for doing such a thing, so obviously I won't be doing it. The entire thing was HYPOTHETICAL. There is a big difference between I WOULD do this IF....and I WILL do this NOW.
Ok sicpuppy, but you should have KNOWN it would cause drama!
Oh, I knew. Again, I’m not stupid.
I know what people are like; they see an opinion they don't share or can't relate to, and they snark.
Hell, I'VE DONE IT! I've been to people's journals and snarked them for their opinions too. I've mercilessly ripped into ebonlupus for his dog fucking, I've had a good old lol at people during the whole 'cub porn' issue. I understand how it works. Someone told me I should have simply disabled my DA journal comments for that entry, but it does not appear possible to do that.
However, I do not apologise for my feelings. My family believe I am right on the live feeding issue, all my close friends believe I am right and most importantly.....I believe I am right.
Didn't you claim you'd go down in history as a great person due to this?
Lol, no. Once again, things have been taken out of context and twisted to suit people. What I actually said was that having a lot of people who think you are wrong, or a psycho, isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Look how many people thought Hitler was right.....did that make him right?
How many people agree or disagree with me doesn't bother me. Im confident enough in my own opinions to not need reassurance from others. So no, I don't think I'll go down in history as a great person because of this, but at the same time, I don't think having the masses disagree with me is as big a problem as they think.
Ok, last thing, this pic? http://sicpuppy.deviantart.com/art/Misfit-love-71949252
What’s the story behind that? Are you actually a furry in denial/wanna fuck rats or what?
Ah yes, the old Misfit love pic, which everyone in this thing has probably seen far too much of. I know I have. Damn thing was a quick lulz pic. If I'd known it was gonna be so viewed I'd have spent more time on it.
I'll happily explain that.
I have never thought of myself as a furry in the true sense of the word. I have asked many furs what actually defines a furry, and gotten a truck-load of different answers from each one. As such, I've never been 100% sure what defines a furry, as it seems no one else can agree on it either.
I used to think it was anyone with an interest in cartoon animals. Thusly, when I first heard the term, I would label myself as a furry for convenience.
Over time, I learned that furry had a lot of negative connotations, which I wasn't happy about. People began assuming things about me based on that label, and I also realised that most furs I knew were drawing art that was a hell of a lot more anthro than anything I ever drew. My characters are, essentially, just animals. No human torsos, clothing, etc here. They gesticulate, smoke, and have piercings, which probably does define them as anthro, but still, this is what I thought of when I thought of 'proper' furry art:
http://fanarchive.net/Artists/Huskie/WhitepawzRef.jpg (image by huskie)
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1012711/ (image by ninjaweasel)
A far cry from my own. Human bodies and general human anatomy with animal overtones, whereas mine are far more in keeping with the animals natural anatomy.
I LIKE this art from some others, watch many anthro artists, but it isn't the style I personally like to work in, i see my personal characters as much more 'natural/feral/whatever'.
I also have never been to a con, have no desire to own a fur suit, have never 'yiffed', and don't role-play or use MUCKS.
Therefore, I kinda hovered in limbo for a while, and to be brutally honest, it didn't matter to me as much as it seemed to matter to others. I'd use the term 'fursona' to describe Ziggy simply because it was quicker and easier than saying 'animal character that represents me!' each time, and most people know what fursona means.
But I never really truly thought of myself as a proper furry.
It has recently been said to me that I would, in actuality, be defined as a proper furry, just because I draw slightly anthropomorphic animals. So we're back to where we were when I first started out online!
So as for whether I’m a furry. That’s up to you. I am happy to be called such, and equally happy NOT to be called such. If I am to you, that’s cool. Furry is cool. If I’m not, no worries!
I'd also like to make it obvious, as if it isn't already, that I don't fap off to rat porn. Someone even went as far as to try and slander me by suggesting I'd once said I would love to do sexual things to my pet rats.
I've never, ever said that. I find that repulsive, shit, didn't you guys SEE how much of a bitch I was to EbonLupus because of his 'habits'?
Oddly, person who tried to accuse me claimed to have once had a screen shot of me saying that, but conviniently she can't find it anymore....
Now that’s clear.....
The above pic was done for several reasons.
First was as a joke between me and my best friend, and I even toyed with just sending it to her and not uploading it, but I thought it was an ok piece and at least one of my watchers would probably like to see it.
Secondly, to illustrate Kyuss's character better. He is a sleaze, a ladies man, your cliché charming, suave bond-esque man. What he spends his day doing is, much like all wild bucks, sleeping, eating, and having sex. I've drawn the first two, why not this one?
Lastly, anatomy practise. Sure, it’s not a pose I'll use often, but it is still a kinda hard pose to get right, for me.
I even said in the description that the doe was never meant to be me originally, it was going to be a random doe.
But look through my gallery....how many doe characters do I have?
Me and......uh........oh.
So it ended up being me. Whats the point in creating a whole new character?
So, I hope you have had some questions answered and some misconceptions righted.
I will no longer be replying to any of the trolls as it is clear there is no point. If I reply to them, Im just a drama whore who is butthurt or trying to defend herself. If I IGNORE people, then its OBVIOUSLY because I don't have a good arguement for them!
Obviously it is going to be tl;dr for some people. But it is all I am prepared to say on this subject.
Now can we PLEASE find something else to talk about?