Posted on 03/30/2009 11:37:50 AM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
MARATHON, Florida (CNN) -- Juan Lopez reads meters with one eye and looks for snakes with the other. Lopez is a member of the "Python Patrol," a team of utility workers, wildlife officials, park rangers and police trying to keep Burmese pythons from gaining a foothold in the Florida Keys.
Officials say the pythons -- which can grow to 20 feet long and eat large animals whole -- are being ditched by pet owners in the Florida Everglades, threatening the region's endangered species and its ecosystem.
"Right now, we have our fingers crossed that they haven't come this far yet, but if they do, we are prepared," Lopez said.
Burmese Pythons are rarely seen in the middle Florida Keys, where Lopez works. The Nature Conservancy wants to keep it that way.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
$100 per pregnant female.
do you really need a bounty? how about just an open season on them, and tell the rednecks that python tastes better than alligator.
No it's taste's sort of like spotted owl. But not quite like bald eagle.
Damn! I think a new make believe felony is a little harsh. We’ve got enough stupid felonies in this country. How about a $100 license and some limitations on disposal? I owned one and successfully bred her. Decided I didn’t want her anymore some my buddy and I sold a breeding pair for $500. She was a nice snake, just don’t get between one and it’s dinner.
I don't believe that you get much attention if you have a Hermit Crab.
I don't believe that you get much attention if you have a Hermit Crab.
Rattlesnake tastes like chicken... it’s pretty good once you get past the idea of “snake”.
I think people who believe reptiles are good pets are delusional.Every person I have ever met or known to have exotic pets either wanted something different to shock/excite others or hoped to make a bunch of money from selling the dangerous things to others.
I just thought she was cool, breeding seemed like the next logical step as we had a pair.
Quick question, if you find a snake in your yard do you leave it alone, kill it, or move it so your kids don’t step on it?
“$50.00 per dead snake. “
Can I keep teh skin and skull?
“Make it a federal felony to have non-native species outside of a licensed zoo.”
Like a pheasant?
Depends on the species;poisonous snakes are killed,others may be relocated distant to the house.
The difference with this and other types of threats is that the threat REPRODUCES itself unlike anything else stupid people do.Once released into a new area containing food and no natural enemies,these foreign animals invariably multiply and become at best a nuisance and displace native wildlife;at worst the new animal or plant becomes a real threat to people.
Pheasant, gerbil, hamster, cavy, most tortoises, ferrets, are all imports as are most pet snakes. If you go back far enough, horses and cattle, swine, llamas, and most dog breeds are imports.
Write carefully when you draft your Exotic Wildlife bill!
I know what you mean and I think I understand your intent, but the action needs considerable study before you inadvertently ban cats or spaniels.
Why have a snake in the first place, especially one that grows so big? They’re aloof, they’re not cuddly, they don’t hunt, they don’t fetch slippers and you don’t take them for walks. They won’t do tricks either......
What do conchs and a school superintendent’s wife have to do with pythons in the everglades?
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