While it pains me greatly to say it, it would be for the greater good to humanely put them down and donate them for scientific study. Any specimen that has become feral enough to survive predation in the wild will never be as truly tame as a captive bred animal. I wouldn’t voluntarily house a 14ft wild specimen, and I’ve been working with Burmese for 16 years. If wild-caughts in the Everglades are not put down, there is always a chance that they could be intentionally or accidentally reintroduced, and relocation itself is not a very efficient way of controlling a population.

There are many people that have spent tireless hours and resources to defend the right to own these beautiful creatures, and the least we can do is recognize the struggle they’ve fought for us, and make every possible effort to eradicate the wild population, or at the very least keep them in check. We have to accept that many people simply have an irrational fear of snakes, due to lack of education about them. Donating wild caught specimens in the name of science will help educate and spread some good will, which our community needs.

Brad Johnston
Python Eugenics
pythoneugenics@comcast.net
781-330-2854

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