Penalty for Collecting Wild Snakes: 3 Years Probation, $5,000 fine, 300 hours Com.Ser

I just ran across this article of a guy who collected a pair of endangered colubrids (king snakes) and shipped them out of state to his home. Not sure how he got caught but it sounds like he is in a heap of trouble. You would think that people would welcome a breeder catching and breeding an endangered snake to increase the population? Seems completely backwards to me, he should get a metal LOL. I've actually thought about doing this at one point, I've seen some really neat snakes that people catch in the wild that I have never seen in the pet trade. Perhaps there is a way to do this legally by working with the proper authorities?

https://nypost.com/2018/03/03/man-se...ngered-snakes/

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Originally Posted by cchardwick

I just ran across this article of a guy who collected a pair of endangered colubrids (king snakes) and shipped them out of state to his home. Not sure how he got caught but it sounds like he is in a heap of trouble. You would think that people would welcome a breeder catching and breeding an endangered snake to increase the population? Seems completely backwards to me, he should get a metal LOL. I've actually thought about doing this at one point, I've seen some really neat snakes that people catch in the wild that I have never seen in the pet trade. Perhaps there is a way to do this legally by working with the proper authorities?

https://nypost.com/2018/03/03/man-se...ngered-snakes/

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I can see both sides of it....I mean, what are the chances he's going to breed and re-release them? Probably not likely. Our state DNR office is well known to be unkind to our residents even for minor violations. I don't think there's a chance in hell they would let you touch an endangered species unless you're from an educational institution. Maybe other states are different though.

Yeah if they're endangered they don't want hobby breeders grabbing them for the pet trade. The whole goal would be to let the endangered snakes numbers rise in their natural environment. If they felt a captive breeding project would be beneficial, they would have qualified herpetologists working on it. I mean would you want some random person (not guaranteed to be an experienced reptile keeper) to grab endangered species to breed? I'm totally on the authorities side. I don't think this guy was thinking about what would be best for the species.

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Originally Posted by Timelugia

Yeah if they're endangered they don't want hobby breeders grabbing them for the pet trade. The whole goal would be to let the endangered snakes numbers rise in their natural environment. If they felt a captive breeding project would be beneficial, they would have qualified herpetologists working on it. I mean would you want some random person (not guaranteed to be an experienced reptile keeper) to grab endangered species to breed? I'm totally on the authorities side. I don't think this guy was thinking about what would be best for the species.

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Ditto. My thoughts exactly


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Probably got caught because when they checked the sender which is himself and the receiver which is himself again and considering the snakes he sent were a local wild variety he was sending from and he didnt have papers to prove they were captive bred and born, he got busted. I have been looking into getting a baby Gila or Beaded Lizard and since they are native to this country, the breeder has to supply a document showing they were bred and born in captivity.

Should have been charged per animal!!
Know the hunting laws before yo do something stupid.
Here in Texas there is an endorsement for you hunting license to collect reptiles. You also legally need this to stalk and photograph them though it isnt that strickly enforced.

There's a big difference between a legitimate captive breeding program for endangered snakes and a hobbyist simply removing specimens from the wild. Standard reintroduction deaths of captive bred animals is estimated at 90%+ for many and getting that number down requires a lot of work and knowledge. Any reintroductions from a program almost always include the specimens being part of long term monitoring, sometimes via RFID, to see how the animals are doing and adjust for success.

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Originally Posted by cchardwick

I just ran across this article of a guy who collected a pair of endangered colubrids (king snakes) and shipped them out of state to his home. Not sure how he got caught but it sounds like he is in a heap of trouble. You would think that people would welcome a breeder catching and breeding an endangered snake to increase the population? Seems completely backwards to me, he should get a metal LOL. I've actually thought about doing this at one point, I've seen some really neat snakes that people catch in the wild that I have never seen in the pet trade. Perhaps there is a way to do this legally by working with the proper authorities?

https://nypost.com/2018/03/03/man-se...ngered-snakes/

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That more than you'd get for attempted murder over here in the UK ... the softest country in the world ..


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Good. If an endangered species needs to be captive bred leave it to zoos or conservation programs that know how to do it and to reintroduce them back to the wild. Not some for profit hobby breeder that had no business collecting wild snakes. Greed for exotic reptiles is one reason we have so many endangered animals already.

Edit: Wild caught specimens also often harbor pathogens that most inexperienced keepers have no idea how to treat. They also tend to not acclimate very well and are often kept in conditions that are not suitable for their survival as these hobby breeders simply are out to make a profit and could care less about husbandry beyond minimal needs to keep them alive.

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Originally Posted by KevinK

I can see both sides of it....I mean, what are the chances he's going to breed and re-release them?

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Also don't want some random breeder releasing snakes, you never know what they may have picked up in captivity and then introducing something foreign back into the native populace (as one reason not to do it). Also it is generally illegal to release captive specimen of various species in a lot of (most?) states.