And so the slippery slope begins to slide

[nightrainfalls]

New Lacey Act Target?

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the...ats/ar-AAaIHsZ

[Daniel.michelle]

Nothing is safe at all. Seriously, not even ball pythons or anything else. I'm not surprised they're going after the Nile monitor. They make it seem like they're terrorizing the state etc. No. They are not. There is not a stable population of them. They also have the same diet as alligators. Oh, and Nile monitors are smaller.

Also 20 lizards to thousands is a very big leap. And that'a because it's simply untrue

[The Golem]

Nothing is safe at all. Seriously, not even ball pythons or anything else. I'm not surprised they're going after the Nile monitor. They make it seem like they're terrorizing the state etc. No. They are not. There is not a stable population of them. They also have the same diet as alligators. Oh, and Nile monitors are smaller.

Also 20 lizards to thousands is a very big leap. And that'a because it's simply untrue

The actual article is much less sensationalistic.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/pa...410-story.html

"We have found that the population hasn't spread very far from the C-51 Canal, and if we increase the pressure, we might be able to eradicate them," said Jenny Ketterlin Eckles, non-native wildlife biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
...

Although not dangerous to people unless harassed, they eat a wide range of wildlife, including small mammals, reptiles and fish. They are considered a threat to burrowing owls, including eggs, chicks and adults.
The lizards have been known to consume domestic cats in their habitat in Africa. In Cape Coral, site of the largest Nile monitor population in Florida, there have been unconfirmed reports of monitors killing pets.
...
The Nile monitors in Palm Beach County live along a roughly 12-mile stretch of canals and adjacent waterways, running from Interstate 95 and Southern Boulevard west to the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. In the last five years, 42 have been removed from that area.

[Daniel.michelle]

Lol unconfirmed. That's pathetic... it's too bad they forgot to use any actual science.

[SnakeBalls]

An answer to the cat problem!

[Paragonimus westerma]

I'm honestly amazed that a nile monitor would attack something as large as a cat. They don't have the right build or the dentition for that kind of predation. I can easily see a lace monitor or a croc monitor taking down a cat, easily, but not a nile monitor.

Didn't people also accuse tegu's of eating cats? I can easily imagine a big male mauling a cat to death [they seem to have a strange, instinctual hatred and revulsion of cats], but definitely not eating one.

[Bluebonnet Herp]

I'd bet serious money that monitors of many sorts (including Niles, but possibly also water monitors and the large African varieties) as well as tegus will be on the next Lacey Act listings. They sure as hell keep inferring it; no way we can't see it coming.

[Paragonimus westerma]

I could *almost* see the justification behind putting red and argentinian tegu's on the list, since of all the "big" invasive herps its the only one that seems like it can actually spread north beyond Florida.

That then though begs the question of what impact an invasive Tegu would have on the environment that a raccoon or an opossum DOESN'T already have.

As far as I'm aware, as far as ecology is concerned a tegu is basically just a big, fat scaly raccoon that doesn't climb trees.


Also I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with a massively idiotic blanket-ban on all varanids, including the dwarf species like what NYC does. It would technically be illegal for my friend in NYC to buy a sand boa or a rubber boa because NYC lists it as "dangerous wildlife" or some crap like that. EDIT: Though, granted actual enforcement of those city laws seems to be practically nonexistent.

[Darkbird]

WellWell of course Niles will be a future target. So will balls, cornsnakes, my parrots, dog , cat, and likely my darn goldfish if groups like HSUS and PETA have their way. Science and facts don't count for much anymore, but if you have money and can squawk the loudest, you can pretty much get your way these days.

[Daniel.michelle]

Nile monitors are scavengers. They do not actively hunt cats. However, if they see a dead one in the road or killed in some other manor, they will eat it. I am willing to bet that 90% of the cases/reports of Niles eating these larger mammals is them scavenging pretty killed food.

Also check this out, http://www.businessinsider.com/nile-...florida-2015-4 look how sick/skinny this lizard is.