I was also told by a friend that toured the australia zoo and witnessed a taping of one of his shows that he actually drugged many of the aggressive snakes that he "played" with. That way they were nearly too incapaciatated to bite him. Again, that's hearsay, but anyways. I figured a crock would get him sooner or later anyways. I do think that his main use of animals was money, but again I think he had a genuine love for them at the same time.