Python Rope A Dope

[Russ Lawson]

I just got a voice mail from a friend who happens to be a medium-sized ball python breeder. The gist of it: "Whew! Ball pythons are safe!" I was disappointed by his excitement. He is missing out on the big picture.

Not being able to hear what ball pythons keepers said when they made their phone calls I can still say with confidence that if they used the words scripted by USARK then they were serving their own interests as ball python folk, not the Burmese python community. There is no pride in that.

If you called and asked a House delegate to switch the terminology from "pythons" to "burmese pythons" then you should go to bed tonight knowing that you threw a colleague out of a lifeboat to make room for yourself.

A post on this forum that I read earlier today reflects the general feeling of the ball python community; that we will always prevail in this onslaught of legislation because our snakes are small, relatively harmless and, to the best of my knowledge, not crawling around in the Everglades. But rest assured, exotic animals are not safe. The biggest and easiest target is going on the block tomorrow.

Do you remember how you felt when HR669 was on the table (and it's not gone forever)? I was sick to my stomach. Imagine how Burmese python lovers feel right now. And also take a moment to imagine how they feel about the rest of the python owners calling to get their own names taken off the list. How can they be anything but furious with ball python owners right now?

I can only speak for myself as a ball python breeder, but the letters I faxed were all my own, and requested for the bill to be thrown out all together. I know a lot of good guys who breed the big constrictors, and eventually plan to do so myself, if only with the dwarf varieties, and I would never do anything that would risk the future of their breeding projects. I can only hope we get this committee to take expert testimony before voting on this bill. For the sake of the future of the reptile industry as a whole...