Manny, you make many good points which I'm in total agreement with. The Herp Industry consistantly gets the blame for everything feral here which in fact just isn't true. This is what makes me angry. I don't even have a dog in this fight. I don't breed any ROC herps and RARELY even sell one. When I do I screen who buys it even. Neither do I sell the type of herps Petstores usually buy. Even you are thinking that ALL the invasives at Crandon Park were released by disgruntled Pet Owners. Metro Zoo used to be there and then it was called Crandon Park Zoo. At that time, in the 70's, USFWS used to have Crandon Park hold confiscated herps for them. The Zoo had NO place to put the many hundreds of herps that were at times dumped on them to maintain. I was visiting a friend of mine several times when he released many dozens of Spiny Iguanas, Green Iguanas, and a plethora of other species simply because he had no where to put them. That is why there are so many species of invasives found there. At one point they even had a mass crocodile escape by accident.I'm in total agreement that some regulation is required and in fact is already in place here in Fl. now. I'm not in agreement with a ban especially making it illegal for interstate commerce. This entire SNAKE SCARE is politically motivated and has little to do with controlLing or eradicating Pythons in the ENP. It is a Florida problem not a national problem. I believe the entire thing is blown way out of proportion. At this point it's unknown if in fact their injurious or not yet they've been declared injurious. You have suggested we all work together to solve these problems. I'm a Gold Member of USARK and have spent hundreds of manhours working toward preserving our rights as well as pushing for regulations that work and that can be enforced. I do take offense when the Industry is totally blamed for everything that happens. It is also personaly offensive to me when statements are made deciding what others should do. I personally do not think that giant Pythons are good pets but I will fight for someone elses right to own one providing they meet regulatory standards. Neither I nor anyone else has the right to decide what is best for all of us. We have lost to many of our freedoms already. The world we live in today is NOT the world I knew....
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Tom Crutchfield

www.tomcrutchfield.com

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