S 373

[2kdime]

Hey Chris, Wyatt spoke to me in a hurry and gave me the wrong link.

It's under the Laws and Regulations link on the main page

I didnt see anything

[RebelYell83]

Basically,this HAS went through the first subcommitte in feb. so it is still partially active,and can snap up and bite us at ANY time,so PLEASE dont think because its sittin on the desk,it can cross it at any time,keep your eyes and ears open

[Chris Rossi]

What can we do about it then? I email Mr. Nelson this when I first heard of it...

"Dear Mr. Nelson,

My name is Christopher Rossi I’m 14 and I am a resident of Florida. The letter I am writing you is regarding the law you want to pass, S. 373. I agree there are many large pythons (i.e. Reticulated and Burmese) in the Everglades that pose a threat to our already threatened animals. But I don’t think that banning the sale of pythons in our home state will stop the spread. One of the main ways the large pythons were released was by Hurricane Andrew which damaged many zoos and pet stores which had these snakes either as hatchlings or adults. Yes also there were many people who bought these large snakes as cute little babies and then are surprised when they see how big the get. Which then, some of the people release them into the wild thinking no harm can come of it. Instead of doing the proper thing and taking them to a exotic reptile sanctuary. I think one way that could help is to properly educate the people that are selling these animals, so that that make there customers aware of how big they will get. And with the pythons that are already in the Everglades. I think there should be python hunts. Where people will have to pay to take a test and those with the highest results will be able to get a special permit that will allow them to go into the park and extract hatchling and adult pythons. After which these snakes should be humanly euthanized or sent to zoos.

Passing this law will also affect the reptile community. Ball Pythons (Python regius) are one of the most widely bought and sold snake species. These snakes do not get much bigger than 5 feet. Which is no bigger than most of our native snake species. Banning these snakes from our state can cause an impact to our already severely suffering economy. You may not think of it but there are quite a lot of people that make their living on selling reptiles, some who only sell snakes. You might also say how can banning pythons from one state make that big of an impact? Well there are a quite a few very well known (to the reptile community) snake breeders in Florida not to mention those that are small like me. Also every year in Daytona is the National Breeders Expo, which is one of the largest reptile shows in the world. Banning Pythons would also affect this to a great degree. I went there last year, I was amazed by all of the beautiful animals I saw. There were so many colors and patterns it was just amazing. Just about half of those animals if not more were snakes. I hope I have helped you to understand why this law will affect more than just the ecosystem. It will affect the people like me that love and will gladly take the responsibility to care for these wonderful animals.

Thank you for you time,
Christopher J. Rossi"

[RebelYell83]

Just a thought on the burmese python take over,i know if you catch one outside of the state park you can keep it,,but not inside,why doesnt florida issue 1000 burmese permits for in the state park,to let those selected people,go down and catch them,and keep them,it would generate revunue,example,at 100 a permit,it would make 100,000 in additional money to fund the eradication,as well as having 1000 people HELPING with the eradication,thus lowering the manpower needed,and saving money.As well as,if each person,located and took possesnion of 2 thats 2,000 less down there,and so on,,,just food for thought.....

[Caskin]

with all of hr 669 going on,s 373 seemed to have fell through the cracks,basically,,having hard time finding full texts,but it is an admendmant to he lacey act,proposed by Bill Nelson of Fla,banning shipping,and importing of all Python specices

I was just tempted to make a thread about the same thing myself! With all this HR669 hubbub I was worried S373 was being forgotten about, but it looks like it really hasn't done anything since it was introduced...

As far as full texts go, we could easily post that around in thread comments, it's so short! lol
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.373:

Just:
"A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to include constrictor snakes of the species Python genera as an injurious animal.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. IMPORTATION OR SHIPMENT OF INJURIOUS SPECIES.

Section 42(a)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended in the first sentence by inserting `; of the constrictor snake of the species Python genera' after `polymorpha'."

And there you have it.

[Chris Rossi]

Just a thought on the burmese python take over,i know if you catch one outside of the state park you can keep it,,but not inside,why doesnt florida issue 1000 burmese permits for in the state park,to let those selected people,go down and catch them,and keep them,it would generate revunue,example,at 100 a permit,it would make 100,000 in additional money to fund the eradication,as well as having 1000 people HELPING with the eradication,thus lowering the manpower needed,and saving money.As well as,if each person,located and took possesnion of 2 thats 2,000 less down there,and so on,,,just food for thought.....

Exactly my point

[MarkS]

You can see how far along it is and who's on the committee here.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-373

[rodentslayer]

You know I have heard of a few people down in S. Florida going out and collecting large Iguanas and selling them for a living. Pretty neat...two birds with one stone. I can't imagine why it wouldn't work with pythons.

[Chris Rossi]

What can we do to prevent this from going through?

[GregBennett]

I don't see anything about this on USARK's website.