If you saw the movie, forget about it. This story is real world with poisonous reptiles at the center of it. AND there is one other thing our story has in common with that awful movie and that's snakes on a plane.



Tonight's investigative story from Kerstin Lindquist was an interesting undertaking. Photojournalist Michael Gonzalez has great video to work with, as you will see when the story airs at 11 p.m. Tuesday night. We suspected there is an underground of poisonous reptile fans who collect these creatures. Do you remember the gentleman that got busted in El Cajon with a garage full of nasty reptiles? How many times on a zoo trip do you find yourself looking at these sorts of creatures and shuddering just a bit?



I think this is part of the fascination of these animals and why they're collected. But imagine making a pet out of a viper or poisonous Gila Monster? This has to be the X games of hobbies, anyone collecting them knows the critters have a capacity to kill or maim. But the story is about more than collecting, it is about the law. These animals are illegal to import. In developing the story, we found the animal's population is growing in the San Diego region and not from local birthrate. Snake selling is a booming industry because there is money to be made in them thar rattlesnakes.

(Handlers place snake through special tube for shipping)

Our I-team found four different sources for the animals and they'll happily ship your new pet via commercial airline. Visa or Master Charge? Our story reveals which airline ships the most snakes and the "hot" issue surronding their importation. Reptile fans and experts are wrestling like pythons over whether the laws banning the import of deadly reptiles work. And is the ban worthwhile?

(Handlers prepare snakes for shipping)

Kerstin and I did some wrestling of our own, trying to decide if we should order some of the poisonous snakes to demonstrate how easy it was. I will admit we were tempted. Imagine the visuals when the snakes arrive at the 10News studios and the staff goes berserk. We spent time researching the laws, talked with experts at the federal, state and local level to see what we could and could not do. We even asked the San Diego Zoo if we could ship our order directly to them. They wanted no part of it. So we went back to the source of all things wise in our busines; Journalism 101 which says “you can’t break the law to get a news story.” Which is not to say we don't push the boundries at times but not this time. You’ll want to see the way reporter Lindquist still is able to tell a good story with some intriguing details she has dug up.













By the way, a second story is set to air in our 6 a.m. newscast on Wednesday morning. This one looks at the economic advantages of using venomous reptiles for cancer research. It’s a fascinating story, worth watching.

jwblog@10news.com