For Gray Rushin, the boyhood chase of all things creepy and crawly quickly narrowed to the cold-blooded slither of a snake.

His parents bought him a boa constrictor when he was 7. Rushin was captivated by the calm, dead-eyed stare of an alien animal; the unhurried power of its lethal muscles; and the cool, dry feel of its scaly skin.

Now 42, the Cary Academy chemistry teacher is still enthralled by a creature that generates fear and revulsion in others. He has slowly evolved from serious hobbyist and faculty adviser for the school's reptile club to successful breeder with a global clientele and more than 100 boas in his southern Wake County home.

"Snakes just got a hold of me," Rushin said. "They're so adaptable and so successful for an animal that doesn't have any legs, arms or hands. They're cold-blooded -- so very different from us."

For the past six months, Rushin has found himself on the front lines of a fierce political battle over a state Senate bill that would slap a statewide ban on the private ownership of a broad range of exotic animals deemed an inherently dangerous threat to public safety or health.

This legislative firefight raises a contentious question: Who should be allowed to keep an exotic animal in North Carolina, be it a lion, tiger, cobra, Gibbon ape, Capuchin monkey, timber wolf, crocodile or boa constrictor?

There are corollary queries: What's the best way for North Carolina to address the health or safety threat from an exotic animal that is deemed dangerous? Should the state ban private ownership or set up a system of permits and regulations that professionals and private citizens can meet? North Carolina is one of nine states without a statewide ban or a permit system for exotic animals.

This struggle unleashes the strong passions and deeply held beliefs common to many thorny issues. On one side are animal-rights activists; a veteran Triangle animal control officer; and officials at the N.C. Zoological Park in Asheboro and the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources-- proponents of the ban. Arrayed against them are the state's pork and poultry industry; officials at the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; exotic animal hobbyists like Rushin; and owners of small, private zoos.

There's also a bitter dispute over how much of a public safety threat exotic animals pose. The origins of the proposed ban can be traced to the 2003 death of Wilkes County fourth-grader C.J. Eller, who was mauled by a tiger kept at his aunt's home.

While tragic, such attacks are rare, opponents of the ban say, noting that people face a greater likelihood of death or injury from horses, cattle, dogs, car wrecks or lightning. They also say the proposed ban goes far beyond outlawing "backyard" tigers, lions and bears -- a measure they favor -- to advance a broader prohibition pushed by the Animal Protection Institute, a California-based animal rights organization.

In its original form, the bill would have required privately owned zoos to meet the same standards as the state zoo, which is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Those that could not would be forced out of business under a clause prohibiting existing owners from replacing aging or ailing animals. In a revision offered during a Senate committee hearing last week, the bill would also exempt zoos and other animal exhibition facilities that hold the most stringent license offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But this new exemption also requires owners to carry $2 million in liability insurance and includes other rules that smaller operators consider an unfair burden.

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