# Other Pythons > General Pythons >  Python Invasion: Everyone PANIC

## cutemouse

Here is the article: http://www.nature.org/wherewework/no.../art24101.html

I feel like there has been a lot of fear mongering in the news lately about pythons. Anyone know why that is? I think it might be because of that ban that they're talking about, and the media wants to stir up the fear. 

Any thoughts?

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## Jake_Snake

That's exactly what's going on. Oppenents of the snake trade  are trying to plant fear within the minds of Johnny and Jill non-snake-keeper. On another site, I saw a bogus map showing where pythons "could potentially thrive." It had the entire southeast colored from Florida (the one state that was true) all the way up to Virginia. What a load of hooey!

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## neilgolli

That map is based on leftwing Global warming perdictions of the future and is playing a large roll in Fish and wildlife "ban" right now.  All you Gore fans out there, say thank you.......

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## janeothejungle

Thank You.


Cheers,
Kat

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## stormbourne

At least it's not an article talking about them preying on human children.  (I better not give them anymore ideas)

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## ALEX B.

EVEN THOUGH I BELIEVE ALL THESE ARTICLES TO BE BULL , I ALSO THINK THAT, WHILE FACTORING IN GLOBAL WARMING, BALLS COULD LIVE IN A LOT OF AREAS THAT ARE NOT COMMONLY KNOWN FOR HAVING A PYTHON POPULATION.

EVOLUTION IS MIGHTY FORCE, AND IT IS UNSTOPPABLE.

BACK TO THE TOPIC, NOTHING CHAPS MY lips MORE THAN A WHITE COLLAR JOURNALIST CONJURING UP THIS LAME  BULL JUST TO DEGRADE THE SMALL, BUT EVER GROWING, REPTILE COMMTUNITY.
 :Bowdown:  :Bowdown:  :Bowdown:  :Bowdown:  :Bowdown:  :Bowdown:  :Bowdown:  :Bowdown:  :Bowdown:  :Bowdown:  :Bowdown:  :Bowdown: 
THANK YOU,
I'LL BE HERE ALL NIGHT

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## Skiploder

> EVEN THOUGH I BELIEVE ALL THESE ARTICLES TO BE BULL , I ALSO THINK THAT, WHILE FACTORING IN GLOBAL WARMING, BALLS COULD LIVE IN A LOT OF AREAS THAT ARE NOT COMMONLY KNOWN FOR HAVING A PYTHON POPULATION.
> 
> EVOLUTION IS MIGHTY FORCE, AND IT IS UNSTOPPABLE.
> 
> BACK TO THE TOPIC, NOTHING CHAPS MY lips MORE THAN A WHITE COLLAR JOURNALIST CONJURING UP THIS LAME BULL JUST TO DEGRADE THE SMALL, BUT EVER GROWING, REPTILE COMMTUNITY.
> 
> THANK YOU,
> I'LL BE HERE ALL NIGHT


Can you please explain for me (in lower case letters) how global warming will make such a dramatic difference?  I've seen the maps - utter freaking rubbish.

As for the media swarming to reptile horror stories - well - they blow all sorts of stories out of proportion.  Fear and sensationalism are their bread and butter.  It's funny how some people will swallow 99% of this crap but magically discount the one story they actually know something about.........

I am amazed at how people don't see that we do have a problem in this community.  I see newcomers to this hobby being encouraged to buy large herps at retail outlets and even on the web.  Breeders have popped up to capitalize on selling burms, retics, large monitors, etc.  People are encouraged to buy these animals without understanding their capability to harm or even the cost of providing proper husbandry.  Some of these animals die, some get released into the wild and some actually harm their owners.

I don't believe that any yahoo off the street has the right to walk into a pet store and buy a green anaconda.  Sorry folks, I'm a true believer in that there are some species that should definitely be restricted to being bought by financially and morally responsible people who can properly care for these animals.  While a forum like this does an excellent job of advocating responsible ownership, it's reach is limited.  The first contact most people have with herp husbandry is by the store interested in selling them one.

I've seen it discussed on other forums as to how people get lit up by this hobby, buy several animals and then *poof* disappear.  What happens to those animals?  Do all of them go to rescues?  Do they die from lack of care?  Or are they released into the wild?

On the surface, there are a lot of people who are furious that the federal government is sticking their nose into our hobby.  There are some who think that they are only trying to get answers to the three questions that I've stated above.  In the end, they will gather their information (with our help or not) and probably decide that they need to be involved in the business of large and/or dangerous herps.

I am worried that the federal government will find what some of us already know - that this hobby is laced with irresponsible ownership and that large, potentially dangerous animals are available to any one who can afford them.

So be prepared for more negative stories from the media as the government digs into their research a bit more and comes to their conclusions.  The hysteria will pass - make no mistake about it.  However, I predict our hobby will go through some large changes.  Balls, colubrids and many herps will be unaffected - but I predict restrictions on large boids, venomous snakes and bigger potentially invasive lizards in the near future.

Remember, these stories, be they man-eating boids, bloodthirsty pit-bulls, or global warming can't begin without some basis.  As a staffie bull and herp owner, I fully understand that their are plenty of idiots who have provided the spark for these stories.

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## cutemouse

> I am worried that the federal government will find what some of us already know - that this hobby is laced with irresponsible ownership and that large, potentially dangerous animals are available to any one who can afford them.


I think that is quite valid. There are irresponsible people in all aspects of society and there have to be rules in place to combat that. That's why we have laws to punish drunk drivers and fines for people who don't give their dogs water. The list goes on. 

I do think that banning all constrictors is insane, though. It's a knee-jerk reaction made by people who have no idea about our hobby. The legislation they SHOULD pass would be telling PetSmart et. al. that they need to be providing potential owners with proper education instead of worshiping the almighty sale of expensive animals. Anyone telling a first time herp owner that they should buy a green 'conda is obviously only interested in money and not the safety of the animal or its owner.

Education and free, easily attainable information will help so much. There will always be jerks out there who don't care about animals and won't do what is best for them (ever watch that animal cops show on Animal Planet?) but I think some care sheets at the herp displays in local pet stores would do wonders.

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## icygirl

Why is there a picture of an alligator with a burm in his mouth? It looks like the burm is just chilling there. What a weird picture.

I like how they're calling it an "invasion". Yes, I know it's technically correct, but what do you think of when you hear invasion? How about all the movies where aliens come and invade the earth, causing chaos and evil wherever they go?

The whole "they eat endangered animals!" is a big fat lame excuse for fearmongering. Endangered animals are endangered 99.9% of the time because of habitat destruction and direct human interference. And yes, burms are an introduced species, but nobody's paying attention to all the other introduced species that are wreaking havoc. It's only the big scary snakes that people are making a big deal about.

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## ctrlfreq

> I don't believe that any yahoo off the street has the right to walk into a pet store and buy a green anaconda.


I feel the same way about being a parent, but stupid people can breed, and anyone can buy a green anaconda... welcome to America  :Very Happy: 

In the long run, the media will find another story to hype once Python-isteria joins the "Old-News" pile with ravenous sharks, Elian Gonzalez and global cooling, and the politicians will follow the new carrot like the good little asses they are.

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## Gloryhound

Yes, global warming is true, but...

I hate to tell everyone this, but global warming has occured before.  It occured before the last Ice Age and the one before it and the one before it...  Uneducated people are all falling into the Gore trap of believing this is the first time it has happened and it is going to not be the end of the world.  People forget all the hype in the 70's about the mini Ice Age we were going through!  After an Ice Age global warming takes place.  Once the earth reaches a certain point mother nature reacts and draws us back into an Ice Age.  During all these cycles some animals die off, others evolve, and some new ones are created.  This is the way mother nature handles things.  We as humans have the capability of adapting very well.  Also we have a nasty habit of trying to stop mother nature from killing off species!  We have the ability to take wild animals that are dying off and breeding them in captivity, releasing the young, and repopulate some areas.  Yes we as humans are the ones who destroyed these animals natural habitats and/or hunted them to extinction.  Sorry that is the way the world goes and for every creature we save what other creatures that may have begun to develop do we wipe out by bringing their preditor or competitor for food back.  It is all a nasty circle that we as humans should let mother nature handle instead of us.  If we want exotic pets and want to play with genes in a controlled environment then they should stay in captivity.  The killer bee (Not the ball Python morph!  I mean the real thing.) was the result of an accidental releast of a science project gone wrong or right depending on who you talk to.  Also many species we now have her in the US running wild where imported into the country.  Take the wild mustang for example.  The actual American horse died out back in early BC.  The wild mustang we have today were horses brought here by settlers from Europe that accidentally or purposefully were released for various reasons.  Do we now hunt down the Wild Mustang and kill them off or take them to zoo's.  No they are now a protected animal in Nevada as well as some other states I believe.  :Weirdface: 

As you can tell any driving force that develops behind this will be due to uneducated people who believe they have the right to step on Herpers rights to raise enjoy and study various species of animals in captivity.

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## ALEX B.

> Can you please explain for me (in lower case letters) how global warming will make such a dramatic difference?  I've seen the maps - utter freaking rubbish.


Me and a buddy were pretty drunk last night and i was showing him the site and made a couple posts.  When i got back on today i saw he made a bunch of b.s. posts last night, starting stuff with people in other threads, and all around, just spitting random crap.  Just wanted to apologize to everyone if he offended anyone.
Thanks
By the way, i agree with you, global warming is nothing new will not affect us as big as they want us to believe

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## cinderbird

where can we go to tell these people they are utterly insane and ignorant and give them ACCURATE information regarding the keeping of some of these reptiles?

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## PhillyBoyInTN

I'm near the Northeast Corner of TN. Just the other day it was 34 degrees outside..... yeah, balls are gonna run rampant in the wild here     :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## JoshJP7

Just a little insight on the global warming for those who believe its not that big of a problem... In 1970 NASA took the first pictures of the northern polar ice cap... in 32years 20-30% of that same ice cap has dissapeared... Yes global warming is a natural occuring event but mind you the time frame from 1 ice age to the next is roughly 10,000years... If you believe that this is just "part of a natural occuring process" your completely ignorant to the fact that the invention of the automobile has speeded up this "naturally occuring process"... Polar caps that usually recede 10-20ft per year are now melting at over 100+ feet per year... It doesnt take a scientist or Al Gore to look at some before and after pictures and realize this is a real issue and we are the cause of it...

As far as global warming and the invasion... Im still trying to make that connection.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3Den%26sa%3DN

http://www.keepwintercool.org/images...arth_small.jpg

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## Freakie_frog

Here is another idea that was being thrown around by some environmental studies at college when I was there just an interesting take on the ice caps melting. In the 40-70's the world population was "X" number of people now fast forward 30-50 years and then number of people on the planet has increased by "X" amount. Now the amount of pollution that has increased with the number of people. Now the majority of the world fresh water is stored in the ice caps. So it would stand to reason that if nature is so good at balance that with more people and an increase in the amount of polluted fresh water that nature would have to adjust to release more fresh water in to the water cycle to supply the increase in human population and water consumption. Some people think that the ice caps melting is simply natures way of supplying a species population explosion with what it needs.

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## JoshJP7

Also I'm sure everyone knows that ice reflects the suns rays... with less ice on the earth less rays are reflected and more are absorbed... More rays absorbed = higher temps = ice melting faster... Its a snowball effect that will only get worse... Its too late to "stop" the process but that doesnt mean we cant slow it down.

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## the bull

> Any thoughts?


What about all the humans that escaped from England 300 years ago!?!? :Very Happy:

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## Swingline0.0.1

> Yes, global warming is true, but...


I have to give a slight caveat (though I think you had a good point overall).  I hesitate to lend any credence to Gore or the carbon credit crowd.

It's been a rough year for them, so I'll be nice...  It snowed in Baghdad this year.  Most of the icecaps are LARGER than they have been in recent years:

http://www.worldclimatereport.com/in...ming-snow-job/

The most dangerous aspect of this whole topic are things like the Kyoto Protocol, which would cost us literally billions of dollars for 'future damage caused by carbon emissions.'  (Incidentally, it specifically excludes China from paying anything, despite their being the largest producer of 'greenhouse gases' in the world.)  So even if the whole thing was legit, why should we foot the bill?

The fact that about 15 minutes of research will show that temperature spikes PRECEDE carbon level spikes (and as Gloryhound said, are just cyclical) should be sufficient, but there is money to be made... Gore personally is now worth over $100 million thanks to his affiliation with 'green' companies.

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## Oroborous

> Yes, global warming is true, but...
> 
> I hate to tell everyone this, but global warming has occured before.  It occured before the last Ice Age and the one before it and the one before it...  Uneducated people are all falling into the Gore trap of believing this is the first time it has happened and it is going to not be the end of the world.  People forget all the hype in the 70's about the mini Ice Age we were going through!  After an Ice Age global warming takes place.  
> 
> As you can tell any driving force that develops behind this will be due to uneducated people who believe they have the right to step on Herpers rights to raise enjoy and study various species of animals in captivity.


Yes, global warming is indeed true, those who believe otherwise are kidding themselves. But obviously humans are speeding up the process quite a bit. Why this effects the herp culture, I don't know how, except all the energy it takes to keep our cold blooded friends warm :Smile: 
As for the government stepping in on our hobby, I think it's necessary, but only to a point. There are so many unresponsible people acquiring herps that either bought them on impulse or just didn't have any idea what they were getting into. I see burms, sav monitors, and other large potentially dangerous herps sold in pet stores to anyone who has the money to buy em. I think there needs to be thourough background checks on potential buyers, more regulation on larger species especially retics, burms and monitors. Those species require so much, sometimes i think they just shouldn't be pets at all. it just isn't fair to the animals. there's too many neglected animals out there, and stupid people who let them into the wild or let them die or dump them on someone else. it's not right.

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## dshuld

While I agree with a bunch of what you all have posted here I don't understand why the usfwc does not just adopt Florida's new set of laws. It is really simple in order to buy the "reptiles of concern" you 
A: have to apply for a class 3 license; which includes a rather lengthy questionnaire which is questions dealing with the husbandry of the animal as well as questions for hurricane evacuation plans.( I realize not everywhere has hurricanes so lets say natural disaster substituted for hurricane)
B: you have to that license before the pet shops can even sell you the snake or monitor.
C: you have to have it chipped in case it gets out or let go(for the irresponsible people)
I agree that most of the proposal is garbage I do think there should be certain regs put in place for the morons in the world who think nothing of the long term responsibilities they are getting into.

1.1 Normal BP (Monte, Damien)
0.0.1 Spotted Python (Spot)
2.3 BCI (King, Jessi, Lestat, Akasha, Pandora)  
1.0 BCC (Surinam) (Marius) looking for the right 0.1 for him
1.1 Savannah Monitor ( Grumpy, Snow)
0.1 Northern Australian Blue Tongue Skink (Rosey)

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## tigerlily

I don't think anyone can say there is no global warning. The earth goes through natural periods of warming and cooling.  I do find it hard to understand how people jump on this hysteria band though.  For the most part, the weather is still a largely understood system.  (which is why they can't even accuarately project temps a week in advance)  So when models are created, they are done with many assumptions and uncertainties. (which are never included when discussing their results)  These models that are projecting these huges swings in climate, aren't even accurate a few years out.  There is a huge amount of money involved here.  From grants (which are looking for solutions to global warming, not IF there is significant human impact on global warming) to politicians who use it as a platform to get nothing accomplished.  The Kyoto treaty was a huge failure in accomplishing it's job, but eveyone feels the need to do 'something'.  Be careful or that 'something' will be paid for out of your pocket.  Remember whenever more strict regulations are put into the works, you as the consumer absorb those costs.  Many industries are finally forced to move to other countries, where they are not restricted.  Then the pollution is at least twice as bad.  Everything comes at a cost.  The question is whether or not the cost is worth it.  

Eventually costs will get so high that people will not be able to afford basics, then do you really think they will care whether or not they are polluting.  Only economies that have generated wealth can have the luxury to worry over making better, cleaner energy.  A balance needs to be struck, but that will not happen when people are so emotionally involved and unable to look at the actual facts.

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## Swingline0.0.1

> Yes, global warming is indeed true, those who believe otherwise are kidding themselves. But obviously humans are speeding up the process quite a bit.


I know this is difficult to believe, but scientists aren't always objective.  There is *NO* evidence that humans are interfering in any way with the global temperature.  We have no way to know what the temperatures would do if we weren't here.    Like I said earlier, carbon does *not* cause temps to rise.

As several people have already mentioned, this is not the first cycle of warming and cooling (incidentally, the four international global temperature monitoring stations all say we've gone DOWN almost a whole degree in the last bit).
According to the Goddard Institute of Space Science, 1934 is actually the hottest year on record (not 1998 as some initially reported).  

Year  	Temp (deg C)
1934 	1.25
1998 	1.23
1921 	1.15
2006 	1.13
1931 	1.08
1999 	0.93
1953 	0.90
1990 	0.87
1938 	0.86
1939 	0.85


Even the World Meterological Organization shows a *cooling*  trend over the last five years.


So why isn't 2007 the hottest year if we are causing all this?

Why are five of the hottest 10 years before the widespread use of automobiles?





> As for the government stepping in on our hobby, I think it's necessary, but only to a point.


And now we get to the real aim of some of the environmental extremists... they want you to think the government regulating you is 'necessary.'  We'll all give up a little freedom for the common good... after all, it's to save the planet, right? 

At the very least (even if you buy into this malarky), we should recognize that the costs involved are not worth any potential gain.  Kyoto would've cost billions (almost all from us) and do you know what the net gain would've been?  -0.07 degrees!!!  They can't even measure that!

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## Thor26

i wouldnt be that mad seeing a burm in my backyard. in fact i might be happy if it ate my neighbors devil cat. =] =] =] =]

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## drew5337

More large predators are needed, to weed out the slow, sick, and stupid.  I say bring back velociraptors.  And start breeding them for color morphs.

I totally agree with the poster on the first page about responsible giant snake ownership.  I konw breeders have a living to make, but damn.  I was at a local show and this dumb-ASS teenager was talking about buying an anaconda.  A freaking anaconda.  This kid would have had trouble buying a pack of gum.  The breeder didn't have any anacondas, but did have, and sold this kid, a retic.  I thought it was highly irresponsible to sell that snake to that kid, who obviously lives at home, and whose parents weren't present, and who gave every impression possible that he was just a dumb assed kid that thought having a big snake was cool.  

Oh, and for my .02 for the other tangents this thread has gone down.  

There is no man made global warming.  None.  Global climate change happens as a function of nature, mostly due to solar activity.

Government intervention into people enjoying a hobby in a non threatening, non criminal way is just plain wrong.  They do it because, as Ayn Rand said, you can't govern innocent men.  The only way to have more power is to regulate more activity.  Go ask anyone at AR15.com what I mean if this is confusing.

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## Mike Schultz

> More large predators are needed, to weed out the slow, sick, and stupid.  I say bring back velociraptors.  And start breeding them for color morphs.


 :ROFL:  :ROFL:  :ROFL:

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## betoiguanas

I agree with most of you, guys, but I think that burmese, retics and condas sales should, at least be restricted. I would never buy a pet that could grow too big to be taken care of. People out there in Florida are being stupid releasing their pets in the Everglades. They don't realize that the tiny snake or the baby nile monitor they bought in the petstore will grow TOO BIG in a few years, to be kept . Big mistake, and now we are facing the possible banning to our hobby, because of a bunch of irresponsible morons that didn't know what they were buying !

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## Sonya610

> Big mistake, and now we are facing the possible banning to our hobby, because of a bunch of irresponsible morons that didn't know what they were buying !



The new owners that can't care for them are stupid. The breeders that sell them to irresponsible owners are not really stupid, they are greedy and they do not care about the animal or the future of other hobbyists.

If people want to try to keep the government from regulating ownership then they had best start to try to improve the standards that breeders and sellers abide by NOW.

Websites that have ads can strongly encourage their advertisers to agree to some ethical standards. Herp shows can do the same. Peer pressure won't fix all of the problems but it will help.

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