Reptile group sues to overturn python ban

[KingObeat]

Found another article about this on yahoo.

http://news.yahoo.com/reptile-keeper...192838549.html

Lots of reptile haters in the comments.

[OctagonGecko729]

You know your dealing with propaganda when you hear the same memes repeated over and over again without any logical analysis. How many times was it repeated in the comments where someone said "they get a small animal, it grows big, and they release it in the wild".

Friggin animal planet and the news are responsible for the majority of these memes too.

[Marrissa]

Grrr. I just don't get why people can't see reason. If we give these stupid organizations any wiggle room to ban our pets, they WILL continue. It's herps now but what's it going to be next? Dogs, cats, birds? I don't get why any animal lover wouldn't stand together with other animal lovers. It all our fights, not just the reptile community.

[patientz3ro]

You know your dealing with propaganda when you hear the same memes repeated over and over again without any logical analysis. How many times was it repeated in the comments where someone said "they get a small animal, it grows big, and they release it in the wild".

Friggin animal planet and the news are responsible for the majority of these memes too.

That's one of the issues raised in challenging the legality of the ban. Part of the justification for the ban was that the Burm problem in Florida began with people releasing pets into the wild. Since the population has gotten so large, that would appear to indicate that these snakes are perfectly suited to take over this ecosystem. If it actually WAS a matter of pet snakes being released, that would make sense. For a very small number of animals to explode into the population that exists now... Just wow.

Not once did the study presented to the legislators mentioned that there is almost 0% genetic diversity in the current population. Nearly every Burm that has been caught has had an almost identical genetic make up. That's not possible if the initial population was made up of random animals released in random spots. Incidentally, the genetics of the captured snakes exactly match the genetics of snakes known to have come from a breeding facility destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Somewhere around 900 Burms were lost, and never recovered. Of course, with an initial introduction of almost 1000 animals, there's very little question that they're going to become established and thrive. But that's not nearly as frightening as an enormous population arising from just a few randomly dropped snakes.

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[patientz3ro]

Grrr. I just don't get why people can't see reason. If we give these stupid organizations any wiggle room to ban our pets, they WILL continue. It's herps now but what's it going to be next? Dogs, cats, birds? I don't get why any animal lover wouldn't stand together with other animal lovers. It all our fights, not just the reptile community.

That's almost exactly what I posted on FB last night with a link to a "HSUS is not the Humane Society" article. We have to get the word out beyond the Reptile Nation, because it's NOT just our fight. We're just the first battle, and if we lose, they're going to keep building momentum and keep going after animals.

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[OctagonGecko729]

That's one of the issues raised in challenging the legality of the ban. Part of the justification for the ban was that the Burm problem in Florida began with people releasing pets into the wild. Since the population has gotten so large, that would appear to indicate that these snakes are perfectly suited to take over this ecosystem. If it actually WAS a matter of pet snakes being released, that would make sense. For a very small number of animals to explode into the population that exists now... Just wow.

Not once did the study presented to the legislators mentioned that there is almost 0% genetic diversity in the current population. Nearly every Burm that has been caught has had an almost identical genetic make up. That's not possible if the initial population was made up of random animals released in random spots. Incidentally, the genetics of the captured snakes exactly match the genetics of snakes known to have come from a breeding facility destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Somewhere around 900 Burms were lost, and never recovered. Of course, with an initial introduction of almost 1000 animals, there's very little question that they're going to become established and thrive. But that's not nearly as frightening as an enormous population arising from just a few randomly dropped snakes.

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Yeah and we also know that those 1000 are dieing off. They reproduced just because of the massive amount that was thrown out there but are slowly being weeded out due to the climate and predators.

I also would argue that these snakes are actually helping the ecosystem more then hurting it, i have no scientific evidence to validate this but i do have logic. These snakes eat once every 3 months when the meal is large enough, they are breeding and releasing 50-80 eggs which are all about 12 inches when born and have no idea how to survive in a swamp ecosystem. Those hatchlings are being eaten by everything, yes they are eating as well but as we all know their metabolism is incredibly slow. One or two out of that 80 are surviving to be a 10ft snake, which can still be killed by a alligator.

[patientz3ro]

Yeah and we also know that those 1000 are dieing off. They reproduced just because of the massive amount that was thrown out there but are slowly being weeded out due to the climate and predators.

I also would argue that these snakes are actually helping the ecosystem more then hurting it, i have no scientific evidence to validate this but i do have logic. These snakes eat once every 3 months when the meal is large enough, they are breeding and releasing 50-80 eggs which are all about 12 inches when born and have no idea how to survive in a swamp ecosystem. Those hatchlings are being eaten by everything, yes they are eating as well but as we all know their metabolism is incredibly slow. One or two out of that 80 are surviving to be a 10ft snake, which can still be killed by a alligator.

That's what makes it so important that this lawsuit succeed. Many people, possibly MOST are pretty intimidated by even the idea of giant constrictors. Hell, most people are freaked out by garter snakes! The organizations backing these bans know this, and they're capitalizing on that fear. The average person isn't going to spend the time or effort to get the correct information on their own. As long as Animal Planet says they're apex predators, then they are.

The truth of the matter is that apex predators are at the top of their food chains only after evolving within that food chain over an extended period of time. Giant constrictors haven't been in this ecosystem long enough to get to the top, and it's unlikely that they ever will. There are too many animals that see growing snakes as snacks. Birds are a HUGE threat to these snakes, not to mention the alligators, big cats, etc. And damn near everything will eat eggs. The concept of them being apex predators in this environment is ridiculous.

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[Bluebonnet Herp]

This is probably one of the best articles so far. http://www.petproductnews.com/headli...snake-ban.aspx

[patientz3ro]

This is probably one of the best articles so far. http://www.petproductnews.com/headli...snake-ban.aspx

Finally! It's about time there was a new article published, and one that actually hits on some of the real points of the lawsuit. Thank for posting.

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[Neal]

This is probably one of the best articles so far. http://www.petproductnews.com/headli...snake-ban.aspx

Nice one. The sad thing is the government will prolong anything it does, but hopefully in the end we prevail. I had a Yellow Anaconda for years, and she's always been a sweet heart. Now while some of the animals on that list can have attitudes, with handling and working with them they generally calm down. Most of it is owner error which is what leads everything to putting a dark cloud over our hobby.