JORDAN: ZOO KEEPER MOHAMED AMEEN AL REFAAAE BREEDS MICE TO FEED TO HIS SNAKES

Record ID: 864098

  • Title: JORDAN: ZOO KEEPER MOHAMED AMEEN AL REFAAAE BREEDS MICE TO FEED TO HIS SNAKES
  • Date: 17th January 2002
  • Summary: **GRAPHIC SCENES ** SCU ONE OF THE SNAKES TRYING TO CATCH A MOUSE WHICH ESCAPES SMV MOHAMED AMEEN PUTTING MICE IN WITH SNAKES VARIOUS, ONE SNAKES CATCHING MOUSE AND SWALLOWING IT
  • Embargoed: 1st February 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JANUARY 17, 2002
  • City:
  • Country: Jordan
  • Topics: Environment,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAETXZOMI264E2DSJYZUSNTTG4N
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: With three hungry snakes sharing his house, Jordanian zoo-owner Mohamed Ameen Al Refaae has come up with a novel way of satisfying their appetites on the cheap. He simply breeds his own mice and feeds them to the snakes.
    Fifty-four year old Mohamed Ameen, the owner of al Russaifa zoo has three pet snakes living in his own house.
    The snakes, two males and one female, are between three and three and half years old. They are all about 2.5 metres long.
    Each snake has to consume at least twenty mice per month.
    To buy the mice in the market would cost the owner around 50 JOD (71 U.S. dollars) every month.
    So Ameen decided to breed mice at home.
    "First, it is my hobby, but there is also another reason" said Ameen, "every snake needs to eat twenty mice every month, and if I buy these mice it would cost me very much. So I started breeding these mice - first, with three females and one male mouse, and then the mice reproduced and I now have five hundred mice. But I can control the number of mice. Now the snakes can eat freely," said the happy owner. Both snakes and mice now share the house with the rest of Ameen's family.
    Mohamed Ameen, a father of 3 boys and 2 girls, lives in al Russaifa town, 20 km north Amman. Except for his wife, all the family seems to be quite comfortable with the idea of keeping the mice and snakes at home.
    "All my family likes animals except my wife. She likes all animals except snakes. She doesn't like them," said Mohamed.
    Mohamed Ameen said there were no hygiene problems in the house as he cleans the cages every day.
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