I was but a pup, born unto the Kingsnake.com pack by the usual way. I typed in snake on a search engine. I had found my home. Slowly I began to be accepted into the pack and my new found interest in snakes was nurtured as I quickly soaked in all the information I could. The exsisted a sort of hierarchy and while I knew I was years away from any notable promotions I established myself as a non-newbie. At the top was a very wise and fair wolf named Jeff. Respect exsisted throughout the pack for this enviable example of a Wolf. At least on the surface. Below him in the pack were the moderator wolves. Always known to be a bit cocky and would watch from outside the meeting area and would only show themselves accept to do a little strutting. While slightly annoying, they were an ignorable inconvenience. Below them (although only officially) were the dominant male wolves. These were the wolves that knew all and would willingly and politely teach all. My position in the pack at the time of the incident allowed me the priveledge of a few private meetings with the dominant males. Next on down the ine were the misfits. Some of these actually had a fair amount of knowledge but were not who you wanted to learn from. They just never seemed to be able to keep from nipping at each other and lower pack mates. They usually were smart enough not to nip at the dominant males but some were known to sometimes test their boundaries.
Needless to say things were going good for me. Then things started to fall apart. A schizm arose among the hunter wolves. These were a sub-pack that obtained their knowledge by actually going out and finding snakes in the wild. A very respected group. There were rumors that something was wrong with Jeff. Now of course everyone knew about his occasional fits of unfairness but this time somehting was different. Jeff wanted to make a fundamental change in the way knowledge was shared. Some people disagreded with this. No big deal. The big deal was when Jeff began to steal knowledge. He had always had the power to control inappropriate material. Things began to heat up. Suddenly wolves were not allowed to discuss other packs. Not even the fact vthat they existed. Some wolves had very strong ties to other packs. In fact, some actually were Alpha male in other packs. Coop between packs was always revered as an in crease in the flow of knowledge from one wolf to another. These were just a few of the problems that led to a sort of rebellion. Dominant males beagn to speak out against the new rules. They believed that the pack belonged to the pack and could not existwithout itself and therefore should rule itself. Then it happened. A very respected dominant male got excommunicated from the pack. This was the finest pack around mind you and was hard to to do without. Everything erupted. Some of the other dominant males began to leave on their own. One of them was a very important mentor to me. I was confused. I didn't know what to do with my anger. I began to speak out loudly against the pack leadership. In doing so I broke an old rule. One I didn't know about. I said the same thing too many times. And then, when they deleted them, I said it again. I returned to the meeting place and was not allowed in. I watched from the shadows as the integrity of Kingsnake.com burned to the ground. Suddenly a voice in the darkness! Someone had heard what I had been saying and invited me to follow. He led me throught the woods to another wolf. They were forming their own pack they said. It was to be called fieldherpers.com. I joined up happily and am still a semi-active member of that pack. There are other packs that I visit aas well such as this one. But I still find my self lurking in the shadows of Kingsnake.com. I can't get away. Sometimes I howl to Jeff to let me come back. That I will be good and cause no problems but I always end up saying something rude to him. I feel I am scarred by my Kingsnake.com experience. I can't seem to work my way into other packs. I keep them all at arms length as a defense mechanism.
I am now the lone wolf. Wandering around in the cold recesses of the internet forest. Grabbing up or steling when I have to whatever snippets of Knowledge I can grab. I'm almost alwasys watching. Never speaking.
Oh and one last thing:
FOOOOOD FIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!