Off Topic · What the hell is wrong with people? Why do people insist on getting these guys as pets?: (page 1)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/s...

Burmese pythons expanding reach in South Florida
By David Fleshler and Erika Pesantes | South Florida Sun Sentinel
March 6, 2009

Armed with hooks, tongs and a snake bag, biologists at Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge spent Thursday learning how to catch Burmese pythons.

Although none have been seen at Loxahatchee, the refuge's workers are getting prepared as part of a general biological and legal campaign against what may be the most menacing of all the nonnative animals that have found a home in South Florida.

The giant snakes have established a breeding population in Everglades National Park. Now they're extending their range — heading toward the wildlife-rich lands to the north and south of the park.

About half a dozen pythons have turned up in Key Largo, where they threaten the last populations of the endangered Key Largo wood rat.

The snakes are excellent swimmers and could easily make their way deeper into the Keys, where they would consume other endangered mammals, including the Key deer.

Recently in southwestern Florida, a python was found with deer hooves in its stomach, said Art Roybal, senior biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The service will soon decide whether to list the python as an "injurious species," which would result in a ban on imports and interstate trade. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, has introduced a bill to impose the bans immediately.

A bill in the House, co-sponsored by Reps. Alcee Hastings, D- Miramar, and Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, would require the government to evaluate all species proposed for importation, with the burden of proof on the importer to prove the species would not cause harm.

The pet industry is fighting both bills, saying they're too broad to deal with problems caused by particular nonnative species and would hurt dealers, breeders and importers. But Nelson said his bill would be an important step toward protecting an ecological treasure.

"We've spent billions restoring the Everglades ecosystem," Nelson said in a statement issued Thursday by his office. "Yet the place is infested with abandoned pet pythons that have no natural predators and are killing protected species there."

Dumped at the park and elsewhere by pet owners who wanted to get rid of them, the snakes — which can grow to 20 feet and more than 250 pounds — dine on wading birds, small mammals and anything else they can squeeze to death.

Their numbers have risen steadily, with more than 300 removed from the park in 2008, up from about 250 the previous year, said Skip Snow, a biologist in charge of handling the python threat.

Marshall Meyers, chief executive officer of the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council, said the pet industry wants to help solve the problem but opposes Nelson's bill because of its scope. Although aimed at the Burmese python, it would restrict the trade in all pythons, including the smaller, highly popular ball python, which has not been found abandoned in large numbers.

Breeders and dealers are "extremely worried," he said.

"It could have a significant impact on people in the reptile community," he said. In Florida alone, the trade in pythons generates about $10 million a year, he said.

Although trade restrictions would come too late for the Everglades, with its entrenched python population, they could prevent the problem from recurring elsewhere. Most of the southern third of the United States — from Virginia through central California — contains a climate and habitat sufficiently similar to the python's southern Asian homeland to support populations of them.

"It may be too late to stop the invasion of the Everglades," said Beth Preiss, director of the exotic pets campaign for The Humane Society of the United States. "But it's not too late to stop it in the rest of the country."

my roommate in LA had a boa constrictor in his room as a pet... he used to feed it these huge fat rats he'd buy at the petstore... the thing was lightning quick when it would strike & all u would hear is the rat let out a scream & then it was deep in the snake's coils getting choked out... i don't have a problem w/people owning exotic pets, as long as they know how to take care of them & don't end up letting them loose outside when they grow sick of taking care of them... that goes for regular pet owners too, dogs, cats, whatever... if u can't take care of a pet, don't get one.

OK, to start, let me make it clear. I love reptiles and always have, and that doesn't disinclude animals such as Burmese Pythons, reticulated pythons, anacondos, poisonous snakes, ect...

However, they make HORRIBLE pets. And when I say horrible, I mean horrible. Any poisonous snake or any constricting snake capable of killing and swallowing a human should not be a pet, and that includes the burmese python, despite their docile nature. They belong in the wild, where nature selected them to be.

But OK. Ignore the fact that they grow HUGE (Or some can be poisonous, but lets stick to constrictors). Ignore the fact that they have the capabilities of taking down very large animals. Nevermind the fact that they are very expensive to maintain b/c they require such large space and large food items.

But lets look at how irresponsible people get. People buy these snakes KNOWING they grow huge and just ignorantly throw them into the ecosystem once they get too big. You realize how many snakes these guys give birth to at once? A LOT! This completely destroys the ecosystem and it also becomes dangerous to people too. We all know how people invade the ecosystem to make room for ourselves. Well now, we're invading these snakes new homes, and we in the end, are exposed to them.

How the hell are people so dumb? Really. Does anybody here live in Florida that can come up with an arguement that says I'm wrong? I really would love to hear it, b/c I really want to know if there's any intelligent reasoning behind this, other than fulfilling our egos.

i agree... people don't think of the future ramifications when they get a pet... they just think of the immediate enjoyment factor... once these pets get too big for them to take care of, they get tossed aside & left to fend for themselves... what the hell do people expect to happen when they do this?

Posted by TMS:

my roommate in LA had a boa constrictor in his room as a pet... he used to feed it these huge fat rats he'd buy at the petstore... the thing was lightning quick when it would strike & all u would hear is the rat let out a scream & then it was deep in the snake's coils getting choked out... i don't have a problem w/people owning exotic pets, as long as they know how to take care of them & don't end up letting them loose outside when they grow sick of taking care of them... that goes for regular pet owners too, dogs, cats, whatever... if u can't take care of a pet, don't get one.

Exactly. For the record, boas aren't even the greatest pets either, but they are diminuative, compared to some of these pythons and anacondas. However, don't even think of letting them run loose when you're not around, especially if you have kids and other pets.

Personally though, I don't think you can be responsible and own a pet retic or a burm. Unless you own a zoo or something. I see these youtubes of people handling these animals alone and it's flat out scary how dumb they are. This is not like owning a challenging pet, like a pit bull, or a rottweiler, or heck, even a boa constrictor. This is fooling with nature and putting it inside a box, and it's going to come up and bite you. Literally.

snakes are dangerous and ugly. dogs and cats make the best pest, with ferrets and hamsters close second.