My Opinion

[crescend]

I am agreeing completely stop the ban. How ever i understand the problem with the listed animals. The breeding populations in Florida are a problem.I think that these breeding populations can be easily stoped.The things that greg and other herp lovers are doing by capturing the animals is a great place to start. How ever the problem is with the people not the snakes. What the senate is trying to do is stop these populations bye stopping transportation at the border. My opinion of the problem is to stop the owners from releasing them. Make a law in juct the states inhabitted by the animals not the entire united states. I know there are many shows in the south. Don't stop the shows. create a system. take attendence of all the animals as they come in then wright a reeipt for every animal purchased that leaves the breeder. Restrict the owning of the animals in the states inhabited. Grandfather laws should be destributed. Breeding and selling should be legal but should be variable. make sure that the customer is an experianced owner for the big snakes. as for other animals iguanas for example should be properly caged and cared for and if they cant be they should be remanded to the spca for adoption. I am just throwing out ideas. reduce the victims of the bill if it can't be stopped.I am a resident of New York, the irresponsible owmers from New York city screwed it up for us. I am also a supporter of the Bufalo Zoo and am understending the worry about Florida's enviroment.


Please let me know your opinions

Crescend

[Denial]

but at the same time certain people dont believe alot of animals were released by people alot of people still believe they are there because of the hurricane.

[crescend]

Yes we cant stop[ the weather all we can stop is the irresponsable owners. If we can capture those that are in the wild now or at least minimize the population aswell as stop the owners. I believe if we can do this we can create the trust in government aswell as the fish and wild life.

[bsd13]

This is NOT a federal issue. It's a state of Florida issue. Hell, it's a localized issue in one small region of the entire state of Florida. These snakes aren't going to colonize beyond a very specific area. There is no danger that they are going to establish themselves outside of that area. Unless by colonize you mean in our homes where they are kept in very specific climate controlled areas.

[crescend]

Ok but the law involves the whole united states not just florida. florida is the problem we need to resolve.

[WingedWolfPsion]

There is no evidence to suggest that owners have anything to do with it at all. The burms are breeding in the Everglades on their own. They will continue to do so, regardless of whether anyone in the country owns burms.
People are not releasing them--or, if any are, they aren't having any impact on the numbers in the Everglades--so even stopping people from owning them will not help this issue.

Capturing the burms in the Everglades is going to be the only way to get rid of them, but it's not an easy task. My personal opinion is that they should just open season on them--make people take a short quiz on identifying Burms as opposed to other snake species, and then give them a license and let them have at it. Burms are a lot less dangerous than bears, and no special knowledge is required by the government to hunt those, apart from basic gun safety.

It's going to take time, and it may not work anyhow. Once a species is established in a wilderness area, it's not that easy to eliminate. Burmese are fairly secretive and cryptically colored animals. The idea of finding all of them in a giant swamp is rather ludicrous.

This bill is irrelevant to the problem of Burms in the Everglades. Resolving that problem requires hunting, and nothing more.

[bsd13]

Ok but the law involves the whole united states not just florida. florida is the problem we need to resolve.

I hear what you're saying but I disagree. The law is meant, among other things, to stop injurious flora and fauna from spreading via interstate commerce. That simply cannot happen with these reptiles. They can't survive elsewhere, can't colonize new areas, can't adapt. There is zero chance of them spreading. This isn't a case of an invasive species that can wreck havoc across our natural resources like a timber beetle can.

That's why it's a local issue for Florida to deal with, or rather it should be. In short it's a misapplication of the law. Federal law makers from Florida have decided that they'll deal with the problem since the state and local lawmakers apparently won't. Now everyone is going to suffer unless it is stopped. If it does pass we can only look forward to more and more laws like it being passed.

[j_h_smith]

We need to get our representatives to realize this is a single state's issue and should never be brought to the FEDERAL level. I know, I know, the government has been doing this for years. But it still doesn't make it constitutional.

Jim Smith

[MattU]

It's definitely a Florida issue, and should be dealt with by Florida, not te federal government. I like the idea of an open season on them. I'm sure some wont like the thought of animals we keep being hunted, but it's a sure-fire way of keeping the pop. in check.

[wolfy-hound]

People are NOT driving all the way to the blasted Everglades to release unwanted pets! They can't be bothered to take them to the local humane shelter, there's NO way they're going all the way to the freaking tip of florida.

It's Not a issue for responsible owners, it's a environmental issue that the STATE of Florida is working on with knowledgable experts.

This bill/law is nothing more than a animal rights foothold for PETA and HSUS to get rid of domestically kept animals. Once this is passed, they'll just use it as a stepping stone to add more and more until there are no pets, and no food animals left.

Go into the fight with your eyes open. The bill is ridiculous, since the animals listed cannot live in the other states. The last minute additional of Boas to the bill shows exactly how little it relates to feral populations of snakes.