I Attended the HR2811 Hearing on July 29th

[Adam_Wysocki]

One thing really bugs me... the "Reptile Nation" won't take responsiblity for what they've done.

Take the Barkers, for instance.

They stay there are no records of people releasing burmese pythons in the wild of Florida. Like the bastard that does will report himself, right?

Then, they try to blame it on a) hurricanes blowing down zoos and b) imported babies - yay, affecting even MORE ecosystems! - escaping from airports.

C'mon, people.

These snakes were released by irresponsible buttholes of reptile owners.

They are competing with the native wildlife - which is already having a tough time with all the other thousands of imported species - to survive in THEIR NATIVE HABITAT.

But hey, according to the Barkers, it cannot be said they'll have a negative impact on the Everglades!

Can you people do simple math? Burmese pythons eat food... food that native species would eat... add these two together, and you'll figure out in a short time - well, unless you're not very bright - that native species will have an even harder time finding food.

The burms are there to stay. Banning pythons won't stop that.

It will, however, prevent other burmese/african rock/whatever pythons from populating yet another area.

Instead of saving our right to keep these animals in cages, the Reptile Nation should fight for natural ecosystems and preserve them.

Later, Matt

If you're so convinced that pet owners are responsible for burms in the everglades and that HR2811 will prevent them from "populating yet another area" ... I have one simple question for you.

Why is it that there only seems to be a problem with burmese pythons in Florida?

Is there something special about Florida burmese owners that compels them to release their snakes into the environment and yet burmese python owners in the other 47 continental US states are able to restrain themselves?

If this was just a simple problem of snakes being released by pet owners and other areas are able to support burmese pythons like you suggest, wouldn't the same problem seen in the Everglades exist in those other areas already?

Florida is the only state with a feral population of burmese ... according to your statements, there should be other states with the same problem but there are none.

Personally, I don't see any definitive evidence one way or the other (hopefully I'm entitled to my own opinions), but I do find it hard to believe that Florida is the only state where burmese python owners let their animals go into the environment. I can't help but wonder why other states that supposedly can support wild populations of burms don't already have a problem?

-adam