CBS News and my egg cam

[dr del]

Hi,

I filled in their stupid "contact form".

Hello,

I would like to complain about the blatant inaccuracies in your story regarding the burmese python problem in the everglades.

"Pythons Invade The Everglades
Mon Jul 27 07:34:04 PDT 2009

Recently a family pet python got loose and killed a toddler and now pythons are taking over the Fla. Everglades. Debbye Turner Bell reports."

Your vet should be deeply ashamed of her level of knowledge about this issue and the animals involved.

She said "Twelve people have reportedly been killed by pet pythons since 1984 in just the last three years" (text on screen said 1980 ). Not only is this not english it is blatantly misleading - can someone explain how twelve deaths since 1980 managed to contain the phrase "in the last three years"?

The eggs shown hatching were infact a completely different species - one that can reach only a maximum size of six feet and is so naturally timid its response to danger is to coil into a tight ball to boot. Hence their name "ball pythons"

During the instudio segment she was in fact holding yet another completely different species called a reticulated python.

She stated that a twenty-five foot burmese python could eat a cow - this is utter garbage. A very young calf yes but by the time it would be reffered to as a cow no snake currently on this planet could eat it.

The explaination that all these snakes were released by irresponsible owners is yet another falsehood I had thought your channel above repeating.

Is it all just a strange coincidence that the numbers reported in the everglades rose after hurricane andrew destroyed the warehouses of reptile importers and dealers and wrecked the houses and lives of so many responsible and contientious reptile owners?

As for the current hysteria about the vast range of the continental united states these animals could survive in it is completely fabricated as a casual glance at the winter temperatures of most of the areas mentioned should have shown your vet, assuming she had any knowledge of these reptiles at all.

I am very, very, dissapointed in your channel for this factually void fluff piece.


Derek Anderson

I know it wont do any good whatsoever I just wanted to vent.


dr del