Hey guys!
Thank you all for your feedbacks. Interesting how this post led to a big discussion about legality of herps handling. Like all of you, I have no problems and even appreciate that our crawling friends are protected but I find it too much when it comes to giving fines to reptiles enthusiasts like us. Poaching should be severely punished and for this, controls are obviously needed but in my opinion, rangers and guards or so should have the possibility to make a distinction and show flexibility. Without going as far as Israel, it had happened to me in the past in Switzerland. I was herping with Yannick and my father and the wildlife guard from the area was waiting for us with two police officers blocking our car. And trust me, they didn't calm down even after my father tried to make some jokes (they were keeping their hands on their guns all the time which really surprised us a lot for Switzerland). And I also know that the guards in Geneva are very active and stricts.
Anyway, herping is like breathing for me (and I guess for if not all, at least most of you) and I've been catching snakes since I was 6 years old (and I'm 34 now) so it's not tomorrow that I'll stop. Nowadays, I try to do more and more in-situ (usually, I must agree that the best pictures are in-situ) but the contact with snakes is something I need and although I can make exceptions, I'll prefer to get more fines rather than completely stopping this activity.
Cheers guys, have a nice summer and see you soon!