Florida's Snake Problem

[JodanOrNoDan]

While Peta, USFW and others would love to make people think that the invasive species issue is due to irresponsible pet owners this is NOT the case here.

The Barkers have wrote very good articles about the subject http://vpi.com/publications

So no Florida is not the world dumping ground for pets, no one travels down to Florida to dump their pet because they become too large, the destruction of a facility during an hurricane was the major contributing factor to the issue in Fl. The numbers are also far from reality just like the risk for other area and states have been GREATLY exaggerated by so called scientist.

Deborah, I greatly respect your opinion and I agree with you on many things, but on this one I am guessing we are going to have to agree to disagree. I am not a PETA supporter and honestly think they are a bunch of mouth breathing idiots. I am not a biologist or an environmentalist. I am a Texas born Florida raised tobacco chewing redneck who daylights as a computer scientist. This should pretty much tell you where my politics lie. That said even idiots can be right sometimes. Yes, there was a reptile breeding facility destroyed here during hurricane Andrew. I was here when it happened. There were many invasive species here before that. I wonder what those burms were being bred for? I honestly don't know but I would bet they were intended as pets. I also know of people that have released things that they shouldn't have. Many of the species may have been introduced from trade shipments. Are people driving and flying from all over the world to dump their pets here? I really doubt it but animals that were intended as pets come from around the world and somehow end up living in the everglades. I could open an exotic pet store and literally not have to buy a single thing. Want an iguana, jesus lizard, cuban lizard, burm, lion fish, oscar, paccu, convict, red devil ..... I can go on and on. I can get them all. I have spent a lot of time in the everglades with my kids, hunting, and military training. They are all here. They are established. I am not going to deny that fact or all the ways that it happened. I have seen it with my own eyes. Are burms going to invade half the US? No. That is fear mongering by the idiots. In my opinion we should be able to admit facts. It makes all our other statements more believable. We need to police our own and make sure we are not a part of the problem and become part of the solution. I want people to be able to own exotics. I don't want the government telling me or anyone else what I can and can not have.

[Snoopyslim]

Crow - so cool that you chose this for your project, by the sounds of it you will do very well with it. I have always been interested in this as well and figured it would spark some controversy on the forum. As a Canadian, Florida has always seemed so beautiful and yet so dangerous! It amazes me how many creatures that could kill you live in one place but people might say the same for the bears and cougars in BC. Jo thanks for sharing your insight as a person that lives there. Do they cull the berms? Is it so bad that they can not be stopped?

[Crowfingers]

Crow - so cool that you chose this for your project, by the sounds of it you will do very well with it. I have always been interested in this as well and figured it would spark some controversy on the forum. As a Canadian, Florida has always seemed so beautiful and yet so dangerous! It amazes me how many creatures that could kill you live in one place but people might say the same for the bears and cougars in BC. Jo thanks for sharing your insight as a person that lives there. Do they cull the berms? Is it so bad that they can not be stopped?

Thanks, I'm learning a ton and would love to potentially pursue a job in the Everglades as a park education officer so I could teach people about the beauty of these animals as pets and that they get a bad wrap - while still explaining why they don't belong in the wild.

And unfortunately they do kill the Burms. They actually have a yearly 'round up' where people that are skilled hunters / can recognize a snake are given a license to hunt and kill them. So far this is only for Burms, but some people can get a license to kill all 'species of concern' (not just reptiles - there is a whole list on the FWC website).

From the reports, the second highest snake found in the 'wild' are ball pythons - mainly in populated areas. Some are even morphs...so either pets that got out on their own or pets that were let go (here's that link https://www.eddmaps.org/distribution/List.cfm?sub=22787 ), they have only been reported since 2008. You can click on each individual finding and read where they were found and the circumstances. At least with most of the balls it looks like they try and adopt them out if they are found alive. Most are normals, but there are some that are described as 'fancy' color. Some are healthy, there is at least one report of a gravid female that had been hit by a car, some are skinny, but all and all there are 200 found ball pythons spread all over Florida. So their is either a ton of irresponsible owners (whether through intentional release or from having cages the snakes can get out of) or there are enough balls in those areas that they are breeding.

So far all ball pythons are considered by the state as released / lost pets so they are not being killed like burms, but they might not ever get to the 'hunted' status since they are not viewed as dangerous like the larger snakes and monitors.

[Crowfingers]

In my opinion we should be able to admit facts. It makes all our other statements more believable. We need to police our own and make sure we are not a part of the problem and become part of the solution. I want people to be able to own exotics. I don't want the government telling me or anyone else what I can and can not have.

I myself unfortunately know of two family friends that actually drove from Va to FL specifically to dump pets, both green iguanas. Now, this was done back in the late 80's or early 90's, so the invasive issue was not as well known...It makes me sad to think that people can just dump pets like that. Mine are part of my family and I would be devastated if they got out / got lost. There is NO way I could even consider that.

[MasonC2K]

Well, it's not entirely peoples fault on the burms. A certain early 90's hurricane contributed greatly.

On a different but related note...

Given the human races great talent of hunting/harvesting a species to extinction or near extinction, it makes you wonder why no one just says "Burm Hunting season is now open year round. Make and sale all the boots and purses you want."

[ginja ninja]

From what I've seen on the news in the past, there's quite a few African rock pythons in the Everglades as well. There's also been a few tegus caught in Tampa this year.

[Crowfingers]

From what I've seen on the news in the past, there's quite a few African rock pythons in the Everglades as well. There's also been a few tegus caught in Tampa this year.

Yeah, even with all of these other snakes being found, they only hold python hunts for Burms. I think that their version of animal control is supposed to respond to all exotic calls, but I don't know how successful they are at capturing them. There are also tons of green iguanas and geckos of various species that no one really seems to be doing anything about.

[JodanOrNoDan]

Yeah, even with all of these other snakes being found, they only hold python hunts for Burms. I think that their version of animal control is supposed to respond to all exotic calls, but I don't know how successful they are at capturing them. There are also tons of green iguanas and geckos of various species that no one really seems to be doing anything about.

Honestly the chances of eradicating any of the invasives are very very low. For any one you see there is probably another 100 hiding. It is hard to find things in a swamp. The damage is done. We can only hope mother nature finds a new balance.

[Crowfingers]

For any one you see there is probably another 100 hiding. It is hard to find things in a swamp.

I agree 100%, no amount of killing the snakes is going to solve the problem, I guess this is also why no one has done any in depth studies on the actual population sizes too.

[4theSNAKElady]

Please, do post your paper when youve finished it!!

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