Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who serves as the U.S. health secretary, posted the clip on Tuesday, framing the encounter as a casual outdoor activity. In the footage, he reaches down, seizes each snake by the tail, and lifts them while Dr. Mehmet Oz asks questions from a short distance away. The short video was uploaded to Kennedy’s personal social‑media pages and quickly spread across platforms, prompting a wave of comments ranging from admiration to concern.
“Why?” Kennedy’s wife Cheryl Hines is heard asking as the snakes bite toward his fingers, underscoring the unusual nature of the handling. “That is not how I would handle the snakes, but I’m a trained professional,” said Bonnie Keller, a herpetologist and former board member of the Virginia Herpetological Society. Keller noted that while black racers are generally harmless to humans, grasping them by the tail can cause spinal injuries to the reptiles.
Sean McKnight of the nonprofit Rattlesnake Conservancy echoed the call for restraint, telling reporters that “the best practice is to minimize the duration you’re handling any kind of wildlife, because you are potentially stressing out the animals more than needed.” McKnight added that even seasoned professionals should avoid direct contact with snakes, especially venomous species.
Kennedy’s animal‑encounter videos are not new. In 2024, while campaigning for president, he posted a video of himself using a small net and a trowel to capture a rattlesnake in his California driveway, and he later shared a snapshot of himself holding a rescued starling at Dulles Airport. Critics have repeatedly highlighted those episodes as examples of risky wildlife interaction, though Kennedy has defended them as demonstrations of his “outdoorsman” persona.
The latest snake‑wrangling clip adds to a pattern that blends personal hobby with public visibility, prompting wildlife experts to stress the importance of respectful, low‑impact engagement with animals.