I just spoke with Will Stein @ Senator Nelsons office and our conversation lasted a good 35 minutes or so. The highlights of the conversation are this:



They FULLY believe that the majority of the pythons in the Everglades are released pets, or their descendants. Will said that they have the rangers backing this up, as well as admission by people. They do NOT believe what has been written on the internet about Hurricane Andrew being the cause of most of the pythons.



Will stated that their two main concerns are additional imported animals into the US, and released pets.



I reminded Will that there are already laws against releasing non-native wildlife into the Everglades. He acknowledged that, but said that people just ignore the law and went on to say that S373 essentially will add another layer to the existing law.



I then asked him about the possibility of only banning the import of these animals into the US as it addresses the concerns about wild animals coming into the country, but does not restrict trade between the states, thereby keeping people who are dependend upon their snake related income, in business. He said he liked the idea and would pass it along to Senator Nelson.



I gave Will some examples of how this bill will hurt me financially through the elimination of interstate commerce. I explained that in this market, a snakes future production capabilities are what gives many animals their value and if demand is reduced by 98% (from all 50 states down to 1 state - or 2% of the number of states), then the value drops as well. As a result, the investment value of these animals is nullified. He admitted he had never thought about it from that perspective and would make sure to pass that along to Senator Nelson as well.



I also touched on Rodda's initial report regarding the expansion of the Burmese python and quoted Pyron's rebuttal. I explained that average daily temperature is a fatally flawed method of determining the suitability of habitat and that temperature extremes are much more important. Will actually admitted that he knew the Burmese python would NEVER leave the Everglades.



Will continued to reiterate how easy it is for people to buy Burmese pythons and I said that as a responsible snake keeper, I am FULLY behind reasonable efforts to require a permit for large constricting snakes. I explained that a permit would help to reduce impulse purchases (which would curb the release of unwanted animals) and provide income for the state.



I also mentioned to Will that Senator Nelson estimated that there are 100,000 Burmese pythons in the Everglades, and year long efforts have only resulted in the removal of approximately 350 of these snakes. I then told him that if the snakes stopped growing in numbers and removal techniques did not improve, it would take 250-300 years to remove all of the pythons. He started laughing because he had never done the math and was blown away by the futility of the activity.



All in all, Will was EXTREMELY courteous, forthcoming, and open to the idea of better solutions.



I closed by saying that I FULLY support efforts to remove Burmese pythons from the wild, but that I would like to see legislation with that as the focus, rather than just making it difficult to do business.



We thanked each other for the others time and courtesy, he took down my full name and email address and said that if Senator Nelson has any comments or questions, he'll be sure to get back to me.



Now, I don't expect anything to come of this conversation and I'm sure if Will makes any recommendations to Senator Nelson, they'll be ignored. But I did it to prove to myself that it's not impossible to influence those surrounding Senator Nelson. And if we all work together, we can create a snowball effect.



Thanks!

jb
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What's written above is purely my opinion. In fact, MOST of what you read on the internet is someone's opinion. Don't take it too seriously



Jonathan Brady

DeviantConstrictors.com

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