Hi Mike,

Glad we agree on at least one thing.

I never made the general statement that invasive species are
not a concern. The problem is that for whatever reason, "non-native" has suddenly become synonymous with "invasive" and/or "dangerous." Sure, Kudzu, Zebra mussels, and sea lampreys are deemed invasive because they OBVIOUSLY harm local wildlife and/or affect human enjoyment/commerce. But these commonly cited (by anti-ownership forces)examples have nothing to do with the pet trade.

Regarding Burmese pythons, there is no sound evidence that these pythons have an overall harmful effect on local wildlife. In fact, I can make a stronger argument that they HELP local wildlife than the argument "scientists" are using to show how harmful they are. I'll expand on this if you want me to.

Regarding the Joe-sixpack releasing his python theory, it doesn't hold water. The Everglades is a remote area, but it's also huge. Pythons released in people's backyards or local parks probably wouldn't even make it there, much less find another Joe-Sixpack released python to mate with. Besides, I doubt someone that irresponsible is going to drive an hour or two to make sure their python gets a safe home in a remote area. Someone that irresponsible probably would have killed the python due to poor husbandry anyway. Then of course there's the timing of it all - ten years after a Hurricane (that destroyed a few breeding facilities) there's a noticable population of pythons. That's just coincidence??? If you don't feel I'm making a good argument, please contact Tom Crutchfield. He lives down there at ground zero, and can probably even tell you which breeding facilities were destroyed by the hurricane.

Of course an occasional idiot lets his snake loose, and I'm not advocating people be irresponsible. But there's no way to prevent that from happening, is there? There will always be idiots who break the rules, no matter how many times we repeat, "people should be responsible."

Anyway, I apologize if I sound abrupt or if I'm droning on and on. All this nonsense is pretty upsetting to me. My dream of expanding my collection (and possibly breeding snakes) as I approach retirement has pretty much been destroyed, since I don't think it will be legal anymore for us to own reptiles.

Thanks!
Ed

>>I will say that I agree with you on this one. I don't know how the rest of you feel but I don't see the swine flu as a big deal anyway. I believe it's similar to any other flu we may contract. Sensationalizing it keeps us fearful (mostly of other cultures). In this case, linking it to the pet trade is pretty sneaky.
>>
>>Invasive species is a very real concern though. Ed, they should have cited sources. I can't believe the number of burmese in the everglades is as high as 30,000 but they are there and they are reproducing. I also don't believe that the problem started with animals that escaped during hurricanes. Come on now. Honestly, how many of us have met people who buy cute little burms in pet stores only to realize that they can't take care of them once they have a 10 foot animal on their hands? Now don't you think that just a few of those people might be tempted to drive out to their local park (or national wildlife sanctuary) and get rid off their problem nice and quiet-like?
>>
>>This is what I mean by being responsible keepers, breeders and dealers. We have to try and prevent these behaviors from occurring or else everyone in our hobby will suffer the same reputation.
>>-----
>>Mike Lockwood
>>www.tooscaley.com

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