The backstory of this program is that, the day before, I was bitten on the face by a ball python. Right side, between my lower cheek and jawline.

I’ve always found snakes fascinating because they’re survivors; the earliest snakes are believed to have been on Earth during the Early Cretaceous period, about 120 million years ago. Python Regius (the scientific name of these constrictors) themselves are interesting because they are revered in some cultures as saviors. I’ve handled many over the years. They are regarded as gentle, and such behavior is only reflective of extreme stress.

In keeping with ball python instinct, once its jaws were on my face, the snake’s coils tightened around my hand, where it was based. By a constrictor’s logic, the next task was to crush its prey so to begin eating.

Even amid all the blood, I knew not to pull on the snake’s head. Ball pythons don’t have the fangs most people associate with snakes. Instead, they possess about 30 teeth, which are distributed in several rows along their upper and lower jaws. These teeth help a ball python to secure and intake prey. Each ball python tooth is curved and needle-like, between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch long. I’d hurt the snake quite badly. I’d also hurt myself and create a scar.

I was calmer than I ever expected. After touching its mouth and feeling those teeth, I decided I probably needed to figure out a solution.

Delicately unspooling my hand, I placed the snake’s body in a sink — yes, it was still locked on my face. Since reptiles are cold blooded animals, I reasoned that chilly water would shock it into releasing me. Turning on the cold water prompted it to let go. We are both now okay.

Nonetheless, radio goes on. I hope you enjoyed the show more in this context.

Playlist

Exaggerated Bliss
Wetware
Flail
Dais Records

Helix Aspersa
Graintable
The Rain in the Trees
Ransom Note Records

Flush Or Die
Applescal
From A To Sea
Atomnation

Your Refusal Is My Comfort Zone
Camilla Pisani
Phant[as]
Aesthetical

Little cups of grace
Colossloth
Plague Alone
Cold Spring

Hamburger Lady - Remastered
Throbbing Gristle
D.O.A. The Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle
Mute

Evocative Luminance
Ural Umbo
Delusion of Hope
Utech Records

Snapdragon
Marta Del Grandi
Selva
Fire Records

I Myself Am an Absolute Abyss
Cindytalk
The Labyrinth of the Straight Line
Editions Mego

Ittiolalia
Laura Agnusdei
The Drowned World
Maple Death Records

Le Leurre
Nina Garcia
Bye Bye Bird
Ideologic Organ

Akme
Bomb The Daynursery
Primitive Perversions 1981-1983, Vol. 1
Cold Meat Industry

Bonfires
Ensemble Economique
Psychical
Not Not Fun