Talk:Snake charming

Punctuation?
The punctuation in this article is horrid. At first I thought only a few commas were gone, but there are periods and everything missing everywhere! I put in a few commas, but don't have time to do the article. 70.162.61.81 06:04, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

Good article
Based on the fact this article seems to have stood since August without any discussion on talk pages, and it's fully referenced and all, it seems to qualify as a Good articles article. -- user:zanimum
 * Cool. For featured status, someone needs to consult some print sources; everything I consulted was online. I don't doubt the information, but it's likely that there's more info available than what was on the web. — BrianSmithson 03:52, 13 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Shouldn't good articles be devoid of "citation needed"s? (of which the article has many). Eman 235 / talk  05:18, 3 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Goodness gracious, the punctuation, citations, and even the grammar is in dire need of rewriting. This whole thing reads like an 8th graders essay! The lack of discussion and changes is due to its obscurity. 188.210.1.231 (talk) 00:44, 28 November 2014 (UTC)

sound
A common conception is that snakes cannot hear the instrument. From snake "Snakes have no external ears, but they do have a bone called the quadrate under the skin on either side of the head which focuses sound into the cochlea.[1] Their sense of hearing is most sensitive to frequencies around 200–300 Hz." Is it strictly the playing of the instrument and the sound that 'charms' or hypnotises the snake, is it the motion or is it a trained act? Since most people think it is the motion of the player, a point to refute or confirm this might help.

Looking for some added info
I saw a video on (one of) the discovery channel(s) a few years ago, not specifically snake charming, but a tribal dance used to subdue and capture a snake. It basically involved manipulating and reacting to the snake's attack patterns, so that it would attack, crawl up a leg, wrap around the neck once, crawl down the opposite arm, and into a waiting sack. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen, I've been googling fiercly, and haven't been able to turn it up. I believe it was an african tribal dance/technique... I don't suppose anyone here can dig up some info, such as the tribe that does this, the name of the dance, etc (maybe even a video of the dance in action)? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.31.138.141 (talk • contribs).
 * I've got no idea, but you may want to try the Reference Desk. There are a lot of smart folks who hang out there who may be able to help you. — BrianSmithson 01:43, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

GA criteria
The Good Article criteria have recently been changed to make inline citations mandatory, primarily due to difficulties in figuring out whether a long list of refs at the end of an article actually do or do not reference the article. So just a warning, this article needs inline citations. Also on the reference criteria, that section with all the citation needed tags is a bit of a concern as well. Homestarmy 17:32, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Just a heads up that I am trying to comply with the request for inline citations. Unfortunately, the notes I took for the article do not include page references, but it's mostly websites, so I'll try to supply citations from them soon. — BrianSmithson 11:41, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * This thing clearly does not meet the current good article criteria, and I have delisted it. This article lacks in-line citations in numerous places and needs significant improvement in that area before it can become a GA again. Grand  master  ka  00:37, 10 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Boo hoo. — Brian ( talk ) 05:42, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

added source
but since I couldn't figure out how to add normal sources, I just added a superscript link. ½¹²³€½¾¡⅛£¼⅜⅝⅞™±°¿ 04:25, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

One million!?
The article makes the bizarre claim that "only" one million snake charmers remain in India, and I'm even more baffled to see that it's been saying so for at least two years. Surely this is a leftover bit of vandalism? I vaguely recally reading in India Times last year that Delhi, a city of nearly 20 million, has only a few dozen tops... Jpatokal 17:36, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Was going to say the same thing -- one million people doing anything hardly qualifies as a "dying" profession. Even in a country as populous as India, that means about one person in 1200 is a snake charmer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.19.42.223 (talk) 20:42, 20 January 2010 (UTC)

Science section needed
This article could benefit from a rational explanation of the snake charming phenomenon. It uses language like "would-be" and "supposedly" but doesn't explain why the snakes behave the way they do. I seem to remember reading in some kind of children's publication a long time ago that snakes can't hear the music and they are just imitating the movements of the charmer. AngusCA (talk) 01:23, 9 September 2011 (UTC)

where is the charm?
This a form of torturing snakes, it shouldnt be called snake charming — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.216.66.78 (talk) 00:53, 21 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. If you have a problem with snake charming itself, its naming, or its practice, take that up with the world, not an encyclopedia that records what the world thinks. For more information, read wp:soapbox Jcmcc (Talk) 14:58, 21 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Care to explain why it is torture? That would help with estabishing some sort of explanation for the snake charming. 71.63.237.183 (talk) 18:48, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 06:24, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

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Criticism section?
I think it would be benefitial to the article to add a "criticism" section to this article, as some of the practices associated with snake charming can be, and has been, considered animal abuse; it's been banned in India for a reason. At the same time, though, there is already mention of these practices throughout the article; so I'm not sure if making a whole other section would be reasonable. Maybe if the article is re-structured somehow.

Someone previously mentioned making a science section; this might also be useful in describing bad practices from a scientific perspective and the criticism section could describe actions taken against the practice. Christopher Arturo Aragón Vides (talk) 22:38, 28 February 2023 (UTC)