Many people fear snakes. Lin Mingdong, a "Snake King" from Wenchang, south China's Hainan Province, makes a living by raising snakes. His company is the only enterprise in China to engage in boa raising.

Lin is fond of all kinds of animals. A few years ago, Lin started to raise boas, China's national level protected animal. Currently Lin has raised some 10 thousand boas, and his company is China's largest boa-raising base.

Lin revealed that his company can help increase the boa population in China. "Because of excessive hunting, the number of boas is decreasing. But in Hainan, there are more and more artificial-bred boas, which can also help local farmers earn more money," Lin Said.

Lin even established a boa research institute in 2003, and currently he is cooperating with Zhang Liling, a professor from Hainan University, to further research artificial-bred boas. In 2005, the local scientific research bureau also invested in the research.

Lin said that boas are much in demand in the market as hundreds of traditional musical instrument producers require a large amount of boa skins every year.

Lin also revealed that raising one boa costs only 150 yuan on average, as it mainly eats live chicken, rats and frogs, but boa can be sold at one thousand yuan.