- Title: 400 scaly creatures under one roof: meet France's reptile man
- Date: 20th September 2018
- Summary: COUERON, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 17, 2018) (REUTERS) ANIMAL ENTHUSIAST, 67, PHILIPPE GILLET, FEEDING ROAST CHICKEN TO ALLIGATOR, ALI, WHO LIVES IN HIS LIVING ROOM GILLET CALLING SECOND ALLIGATOR, GATOR, IN FROM GARDEN GILLET FEEDING CHICKEN TO GATOR VARIOUS OF GILLET FEEDING ROAST CHICKEN TO ALI GILLET REMOVING 4-METRE-LONG KING COBRA FROM VIVARIUM IN LIVING ROOM, COBRA ATTEMPTING TO ESCAPE UNDER TABLE GILLET PUTTING COBRA BACK IN VIVARIUM (SOUNDBITE) (French) ANIMAL ENTHUSIAST, 67, PHILIPPE GILLET, SAYING: "I think it's unfair to treat these animals the way we do because we don't understand them. We don't understand them, we hate them, we think they're horrible. But when we get to know them, you can call them over, tell them to come and eat something for example, give a little worm to this one -- 'There, want some of that' -- and they get used to us. But because we're scared of them because we don't understand them, we hunt them, we kill them, we destroy them. And we need to spread the word that we have to stop killing nature. Animals don't need to be protected themselves, they've been protecting themselves for thousands of years, but what we need to protect is their environment." RATTLE SNAKE IN VIVARIUM GILLET REMOVING ALBINO COBRA FROM VIVARIUM GILLET RAISING HAND TO CALM COBRA GILLET AND MEMBERS OF HIS ASSOCIATION INF-FAUNE HELPING PUT ALBINO INDIAN PYTHON (PYTHON MOLURUS) BACK IN VIVARIUM GILLET REMOVING TARANTULA FROM HIS HEAD GILLET PLAYING WITH TARANTULA GILLET DISPLAYING FANGS OF DIFFERENT TARANTULA, PUTTING IT BACK IN BOX VARIOUS OF GILLET HANDLING HADOGENES TROGLODYTES SCORPION GILLET GOING OUT OF HIS GATE VARIOUS OF GILLET SITTING ROUND TABLE IN GARDEN WITH MEMBERS OF INF-FAUNE GILLET FEEDING BANANA TO RHINOCEROS IGUANA VARIOUS OF GILLET HOLDING RHINOCEROS IGUANA GILLET WALKING IN GARDEN SULCATA TORTOISE WALKING TOWARDS GILLET (SOUNDBITE) (French) ANIMAL ENTHUSIAST, 67, PHILIPPE GILLET, SAYING: "Today children can't tell the difference between a lizard and a pokemon. Look this is a little French lizard, when all the aggressivity is gone and they trust us, they can only think about one thing and that's going back to join their friends, and there you go. They're not aggressive because their aggressivity has been taken away. All the animals here, they know us, we're never violent with them, we're always calm, it's heaven on earth when you see that. We live in symbiosis thanks to understanding. So let's teach our children not to make the same stupid mistakes that we old people made of destroying everything, breaking everything just to get rich and have a bit more than everyone else. Let's live in symbiosis with nature, that's all we're asking for." GILLET IN BASEMENT ROOM WHERE MANY ANIMALS ARE STORED CRICKETS GILLET REMOVING TOAD FROM VIVARIUM GILLET LOOKING AT TOAD GILLET FEEDING POISON DART FROGS GILLET REMOVING FROG FROM VIVARIUM FROG ON GILLET'S HAND FROGS ON BRANCH IN VIVARIUM GILLET FEEDING DRACAENA LIZARD WITH SPOON
- Embargoed: 4th October 2018 10:07
- Keywords: animal collector reptile man French reptile collector
- Location: COUERON, FRANCE
- City: COUERON, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Environment,Nature/Wildlife
- Reuters ID: LVA0018YFJTQX
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:For most people, sharing a living room with just one two-metre-long alligator is the stuff of nightmares; Philippe Gillet has two.
Named Ali and Gator, they stalk the 67 year-old Frenchman's house, along with hundreds of other creatures including some of nature's most-maligned species from rattlesnakes to tarantulas.
Over two decades the herpetologist -- the technical word for a reptile enthusiast -- has amassed a collection 400 strong in his unassuming house in a village on the banks of the River Loire.
A cobra lives in the coffee table, a 50 kg tortoise roams the garden and at night Ali, the dominant alligator of the pair, sleeps with Gillet while Gator keeps watch at the door.
Gillet says the alligators were rescued from a leather farm but most of the animals are pets that have outstayed their welcome, donated or abandoned.
After a childhood spent in the Central African Republic, Gillet became a hunters' guide and knick-knacks including antlers and animal heads mounted on plaques dot the walls of his home.
But a change of heart made him vow to protect nature and educate a public fearful of animals he says are not well understood.
Twenty volunteers work for his association Inf-Faune, which organises three to four roadshows a year to shopping centres around France to raise awareness.
"Today children can't tell the difference between a lizard and a pokemon," he told Reuters on Monday (September 17).
In his basement, the walls are lined with vivaria packed with phobia-inducing animals which hum with the sound of artificial lamps that don't come cheap: Gillet says his electricity bill is 2,000 euros a month.
He says he has all the necessary permits to keep and transport the animals, and that the most dangerous snakes are kept in a room behind two sets of doors.
He insists the locals don't mind their unusual neighbours and that they regularly pop in for coffee. But the local fire department are more cautious: they are under instructions not to enter his house in an emergency. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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