The media and Pythons.

[Elise.m]

(I hope this is the right place, I didn't think I mentioned enough politics to put it in that forum)

I go to the gym pretty frequently, and most of the time they have at least one news show/channel on one of the TVs. Well today, it was ABC news and they decided to do a segment on how FL is trying to ban all Pythons.

At first, they showed a clip of what I believe to be was a cute little BP sliding around in the grass, then it attacked the camera. It was still cute, imo. But of course, to the general public who aren't that educated about pythons are thinking "OMG IT ATTACKED THE CAMERA!!!" And that really ticked me off. People don't even realize snakes get stressed! They probly ticked the snake off and it didn't like it!

After watching the 4-5 minute segment, I was livid. Which was good, made me exercise harder! lol. They criminalize pythons, and do not represent them how they should be. Instead of saying "Ok, this is a burmese python. If it comes across your cat and decides it's hungry, it will eat your cat. (Insert educated directions here on how to not gain the pythons attention)", they say "If you should see a python in your area (insert stupid directions here on how to scream and freak out the python)" I'm just so mad at how they did that segment, and it just goes to show that the people behind S373 and HR669 have the upper hand, preying on the general public because they know no better.

Anyways, this has inspired me to get up and DO something. I plan on keeping ALL of my friends and family updated on S373, and tell them to e-mail the appropriate people when they need to. I'm also going to try and get together with a local reptile shop and see if they will help me in putting together a "S373 knowledge center" somewhere in town.

The media has officially pushed a nerve with me, and since I have no job or kids, it's time for me to push back. I hope this inspires someone else to do the same.