The problem of invasive species in Florida is not limited to burmese pythons.
Here's a partial list of invasive reptile species in Florida:
Red-eared Slider
Spectacled Caiman
African Redhead Agama
Giant Ameiva
Brown Anole
Hispaniolan Green Anole
Puerto Rican Crested Anole
Largehead Anole
Bark Anole
Knight Anole
Barbados Anole
Marie Gallant Sail-tailed Anole
Cuban Green Anole
Jamaican Giant Anole
Brown Basilisk
Green Basilisk
Indochinese Tree Agama
Oriental Garden Lizard
Veiled Chameleon
Rainbow Lizard
Giant Whiptail
Asian Flattail House Gecko
Mexican Spinytail Iguana
Black Spinytail Iguana
Tokay Gecko
Yellowhead Gecko
Tropical House Gecko
Common House Gecko
Mediterranean Gecko
Indo-Pacific Gecko
Green Iguana
Northern Curleytail Lizard
Green-legged Curlytail Lizard
Red-sided Curlytail Lizard
Butterfly Lizard
Many-lined Grass Skink
Bibrons Gecko
Giant Day Gecko
Texas Horned Lizard
Ocellated Gecko
Ashy Gecko
White-spotted Wall Gecko
Moorish Wall Gecko
Nile Monitor
Javan Fliesnake
Common Boa
Burmese Python
Brahminy Blind Snake
Northern African Python
Now, I'm pretty sure not all of these found freedom during the hurricane...and while not all reptile owners are irresponsible, this hobby lends itself to stupid irreversible actions. Take a good long hard look at that list and then try to explain how - by in large - it doesn't reflect badly on us.
Boomerang, I don't think you're a troll. Unfortunately both side of the argument have focused so hard on the burmese python issue that it has become a hinge point for a lot of emotion. The bottom line is that Florida has a wide and varied array of invasive species and that many of them can be traced back to the exotic pet trade.
We do not do ourselves justice by blindly defending what has occurred and what is occurring. A by product of our freedom to keep what we want without restriction is that some may abuse this freedom. Instead of downplaying the problem or acting like it can be self managed, we should deal with the abuse on our end. I've seen very little of that.
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