Bill Nelson is coming!!!!

[JandDReptiles]

Nelson is pretty dumb. One point I have heard brought up in this is Burms eat endangered mammals and such(this point was proght up in Viperkeepers vid), which is a good point BUT, How many times have endangered mammals been run over by cars, rather than eaten by burms?

[bsd13]

It just gets better and better.

http://www.miamiherald.com/486/story/1141950.html

[BPHERP]

short, crappy article, expected, but scary....

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/jul...news-breaking/

Politicians are ambulance chasing morons. That article is representative of the usual reactionary response that will not stop irresponsible parents from indirectly killing their children.

Things like guns, snakes, unprotected pools, household detergents, tools and other items are not the problem.

Ignorant, uneducated people that have no business being parents are the problem.

It's never "the thing", its "the person".

BrandonsBalls

[I<3Dreamsicles]

Bill Nelson is an IDIOT!

Thats exactly what I was thinking.

[I<3Dreamsicles]

It just gets better and better.

http://www.miamiherald.com/486/story/1141950.html

wow....... if this is actually real, how retarded can people get??? hurray America.....

that bill nelson guy also seems like an idiot.

[Raptor]

It goes with any form of domesticated animal attack. Dog attacks kid? Oh no, the dog must be vicious and therefore put down! Nevermind that the parents left the two alone and the dog was defending itself because the kid decided to yank its ear/cause pain.

The reason why snakes get such a bad rap is because all through history they've been deemed evil. Not to mention, a lot of people can't understand how reptile keepers can find some 'gross and slimy' cute. Yes, I actually had someone tell me that she thought snakes were slimy. -insert eyeroll here-

While I agree with requiring permits/education in order to own the large pythons/hots (people who want to look cool aren't going to go through the trouble that a dedicated reptile owner will), banning is obviously not the solution. The only thing that we can really do, is the same we did for HR669: send out mass e-mails and call the legislators. This is especially true for those who live in florida or have relatives/friends in florida who support your hobby.

Worse comes to worse, we can do another call in like what happened during the HR669 bit. Block the lines and all that; let em know that we won't stand for this.

[pythontricker]

He says "it's time to act before an unsuspecting tourist is attacked." Oh yeah, just forget about the crocodiles in the glades. They clearly cant do anything, so forget about them. Hey while were at it, we should out law shoe laces. You can trip and fall, and break your neck if they are untied. God I wonder if these people have ever even heard of the phrase "Responsible Parenting". Im speechless at this point.

[pythontricker]

it just gets better and better.

http://www.miamiherald.com/486/story/1141950.html

:o

[Kysenia]

I'm not sure if this will make sense, but i will try the best I can to convey what I am thinking....

As we have been told by our fellow large and small reptile breeders, USARK etc.....we are at a crossroads again and will be for sometime with our hobby/business depending on who you are. We will come across tragic situations as above where politicians use the incident as a soap box to preach/scare/inform as many as they can to get something done they see fit.

This is government, our issue hits home the hardest but there are hundreds of examples of legislation that gets passed every year do to someones perception/motivation being conveyed to his peers in the governnment. Although it is difficult for us to watch, and therapuetic for us to vent on their stupidity the fact of the matter is we need to channel that feeling into doing what we can together to show and educate others the reality of or hobby/business of reptiles....in this case snakes.

As I mentioned before 100's of useless bills get passed because of the same situation we have been in and are currently fighting because a perception of an issue......
1. Pythons will ruin the everglades
2. Pythons live to kill kids
3. Pythons will live in Alaska by the year 2030
4. Exotic animals in general if not banned will run the US and take over North Korea by 2040.

The list could go on and on.......

So it comes down to this........Politicians have perceptions/agendas/motivation for their actions.......Politicians usually talk based on their perception and will use whatever statistic founded or unfounded, incident.....to convey their perception to the masses.

Perception vs. Reality

As I have learned many times the truth/reality of a situation really doesnt matter when decisions are made.........It is Perception of others that makes the decisions. With that in mind we need to follow the advice of USARK, Adam W., BHB, RDR, Justin K., and the great leaders of this site. Come together when called to convey reality......change uneducated perception of reptiles to those around us, use our energy to voice the truth to our governmental leaders.


The leaders of legislation to get these animals banned, put restrictions of exotic animal trade are gonna be the way they are. That is how they work. I challenge us all to do whatever we can to make sure we continue to focus our energy not on frustration of their agenda's, how they use words, how they are politicians. But rather use that energy to on a simple idea but huge task.

Make the Reality of the issue the true perception. This will be difficult, some will say it cant be done, but I would argue energy spent conveying realtiy where we can will do more then trying to change certain politicians?.?.?

Anyways, even though we know the reality of what is being said...be sure to do what you can to fight the Perception of the issue that is being told.