Snakes in the grass and claims to fame.

News wires have been abuzz all week with reports of an amazing scientific "discovery" in Barbados--the world's smallest snake, to which I also drew attention a few days ago (see post).

But one of my readers wrote to me yesterday: "Dennis, that is great that this discovery is getting international attention, however I have known about the existence of this type of snake for more that twenty-five or so years now. My brother and I caught one as young boys living on the island in St. George. We put it a bottle to keep it but did not know what it fed on, so it eventually died. With that in mind I would say that Mr. Blair did not discover this species of snake but only brought it to the world’s attention." This type of comment has reportedly been made by a good number of Bajans since the news broke about the "discovery" attributed to Mr. Hedges.

I'm not going to pour scorn on the scientific work of Mr. Hedges; I leave that to others who have anger to vent. I wont seek to thrash him until he can twitch no more. He looks such an innocent fellow, who reportedly went through several rigorous processes, including DNA testing and comparison with snakes from other islands, before his work could be published. So one has to wonder how good are these processes which allow his claim of discovery to have gone so far if, as some reports indicate, there was even an entry in the Guinness World Records that Barbados was the home of the world's smallest snake (see Nation report). One wonders too about reported requests from a Bajan herpetologist, Mr. Damon Corrie, that he sent word to Associated Press (after the latest claims by Mr, Hedges) that he and others had been discovering this species "for decades". It was Mr. Corrie who showed Mr. Hedges the snake under a rock. Clearly, someone's record-keeping was a bit amiss to have not noted these prior discoveries, or even on this latest occurrence the claim to co-fame that could be given to Mr. Corrie. As a professional in the field one would expect that Mr. Corrie knew how to go about these things.

The Nation reports that we even have local historical luminaries involved: "A check of the 1990 edition of A-Z Of Barbadian Heritage by Henry Fraser, Sean Carrington, Addinton Forde and John Gilmore shows a picture on Page 167 of the snake partly encircling a Barbados cent." I would have loved to have posted that rather than the snake curled around an American quarter.

Now, some conspiracy theorists will see this whole episode as yet another attempt to make all that is good and new the result of what foreigners can bring; worse still some white European foreigners or their offspring and their "superior" knowledge and ability.

If this is a simple travesty and inappropriate claim to fame by Mr. Hedges, I would expect to see the process of dismantling begin and in good scientific fashion he will be pilloried. Or the matter just gets lost. We know that international papers are not necessarily going to keep following the story with the Olympics now taking centre stage and issues such as human rights violation and drug abuse to pursue. Presumably, Bajans (of any hue) will hunt down the truth and not leave any more stones unturned, and should be able to make counter claims to having discovered the wee snake.

Either way, though, Barbados seems to have won as the place where this rare species can be found. Now we have to see if the country has to hedge its bets about having one of its own be the discoverer or if he will have to remain hidden under the hedges.