I think it is far worse than many may believe. A typical pratice of herpers in the 60's was to release most CH young. It was what they did. The list is large. Commercial collectors also released non-saleable herps into areas where the herps were not originally collected.



I believe in the 70's gopher snakes were scattered all over their range by collectors and breeders who had no use for the young. I actually hear there are still some who regularly release surplus hatchlings back into the wild.



Florida stands out because the climate is very suited for many herps to not only survive but procreate. Burmese are in the press due to their size. There have been reports of cobras, monitors, palm vipers, many types of Iguanas along with so many turtles and now torts as well.



I do not believe Florida is the exception. I knew many breeders that tossed all sorts of kingsnakes into the wild that they could not get feeding. Many hets of(name the snake) are regularly tossed for economic purposes. Missing something though. This is far from a perfect world. With this, we also have people doing such things deliberately.



Thread above this one is actually speaking of the possibility of just such an occurence. Bullsnakes into Louisiana. There has always been alot of smoke around this one but who really knows.



Does keep me leary of all these new morphs people find in the wild these days. Amazing how many isolated populations of colubrids that are turning up with out the typical traits of the subspecies. Makes the finder believe he has come upon something big when he may have only come across a dumping ground.

[ Show Entire Thread ]