Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as health secretary, has offered Americans a multitude of warnings about things they should avoid in the name of self-preservation.
But handling snakes does not appear to be one of them.
While visiting the Palm Beach, Fla., home of Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mr. Kennedy wrangled two nonvenomous black racer snakes with his bare hands from a patio in his dress shirt, slacks and tie, according to a video he posted online on Tuesday.
The video racked up nearly eight million views in about eight hours on X, the latest in a string of eyebrow-raising encounters between Mr. Kennedy and members of the animal kingdom, as varied as rattlesnakes, ravens, a dead bear and a whale carcass.
How do snake wranglers grade his technique?
In the video, Mr. Kennedy cornered the two snakes from a crouching position and grabbed them near their tails. The snakes, which experts said appeared to be mating, nipped at his hands as they tried to escape from the grip of Mr. Kennedy, who was wearing socks. (Experts also said it would be better to call in professionals, instead.)
Bruce Ireland, 60, a snake wrangler from the San Diego area with more than a half-million Instagram followers, said it was clear Mr. Kennedy could distinguish nonvenomous snakes from poisonous ones.
“If it were me, I would bend at the knees a little more, try to get a little lower to the ground,” said Mr. Ireland, who gave Mr. Kennedy a 9.6 out of 10.
“He got them both, and he did it in a way that the snakes appear not to be injured,” he said. “Really, the only way to do it is go in like a bowl of spaghetti and just hope you get them both up.”
Sara Ruane, 44, who is the associate curator of herpetology at the Field Museum in Chicago and has been handling snakes much of her life, said the video helped destigmatize snakes as needing to be eliminated.
“I commend anybody who handles or catches a snake that does not include bashing it on the head with a shovel,” Dr. Ruane said. “I am very pleased to see somebody not having a major panic attack.”
But the snakes in the video appeared to become agitated when Mr. Kennedy grabbed for their tails, according to Dr. Ruane, who said it was important to try to support their full bodies as much as possible to avoid injuring them.
“I don’t know that I’d say it’s the best snake wrangling I have ever seen, but it is far from the worst,” she said.
Mr. Ireland noted another thing about the health secretary’s technique: “The impressive thing was his shirt stayed tucked in. If that was me, man, I’d be plumber-cracking all over the place.”
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to questions on Tuesday about the video, which Mr. Kennedy posted to his personal social media account.
Is it safe to handle snakes?
Mr. Ireland, who removes and relocates snakes from people’s properties free of charge, said the vast majority of people who are bitten by snakes in the United States had tried moving or harming them.
“So, my advice to anybody typically is going to be just leave them alone,” he said.
Knowing whether a snake is poisonous or not is critical before engaging one, according to Mr. Ireland, who said he uses special tools, including snake tongs and a hook, to guide venomous snakes out of harm’s way and into a bucket.
On Tuesday, several people sent him the video of Mr. Kennedy, who in previous videos online has handled rattlesnakes.
“I’ve seen people do similar things, and they’re picking up a venomous snake, and it makes me cringe,” he said.
Dr. Ruane suggested calling fish and wildlife officers to be safe.
Do black racers bite?
In the video, when Mr. Kennedy was asked what kind of snakes he was holding and responded, his wife, the actress Cheryl Hines, appeared to have misheard, exclaiming, “Moccasins? Those are dangerous.”
Mr. Kennedy, sounding bemused, said they were not.
Black racers are widely found in Florida and are distinct from water moccasins, snake experts said.
“These snakes look about as much like water moccasins as I look like Brad Pitt,” Mr. Ireland said.
A bite from a water moccasin can land a person in intensive care, but a black racer’s bite is more like a prick, he said.
“If they did, it would hurt his feelings more than it would hurt him,” Mr. Ireland said.
Dr. Ruane noted that it can still be tricky to hold a snake properly and avoid being bitten.
“You know that can happen to the best of us,” she said.
