More Bad Publicity...

I left a comment for the History Channel. This is it.

The information that was on the new MonsterQuest was awful. The "experts" barely knew what they were talking about. This show only made the situation that us as reptile keepers are trying to fight, so much worse. The idea of burmese pythons, Boas, and African Rock Pythons being able to live in NY is ignorant. These species live in areas of the world where they need constant warm temperatures. They have not evolved to hibernate in sub-zero temperatures and to think they will is ignorant. The so called "science" that was on the show was humiliating. There was no reason to think that our pets could live in NYC. The tens' of thousands of us that keep reptiles are responsible owners and we are pasionate about our pets. For this show to be aired is a disgrace. It made us, as a community, look incapable of keeping our pets. We do not release our burmese pythons, african rock pythons or reticulated pythons in the wild. Irresponsible owners, and owners we do not associate with, do this. We love our pets too much to risk their health, and we respect the other keepers in America too much to risk their chance of owning reptiles. Then for the "experts" to call the burmese pythons in the everglades an "infestation" is completely wrong. After several months of searching the everglades of Florida, only around 11 burmese pythons were found. Yet these "experts" found two in one night? And the handling of the injured burmese python was deplorable. The python's tail was cut off and looked to be infected. Then the horrible gashes on its head were clearly painful. The animal was being defensive, as would just about any animal that has been injured so severly. Yet these "experts" grab it and wrestle with it. There was no need for this. The poor animal clearly needed to be seen by an experienced veternarian. I am offended by the material and "facts" that were presented by this episode. The "experts" should be ashamed as they has misrepresented us. Scientists have said that the information out there is not scientific, and the "science" in this show was far from scientific. If there is a breeding population in the everglades it is not due to us, as a reptile keeping community, but to the zoo's that keep the breeding size burmese pythons. Our animals are worth too much to us to let them suffer in the wild. What was presented on this episode was awful. The deplorable "facts" that were presented should be considered slander against our community.