Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Another article about the burmese python "invasion" in Florida:

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060412/ap_on_sc/big_snakes

-----
Michael Rehker

Middle Tennessee Reptiles
Website Coming Soon!

"Which of us has not been stunned by the beauty of an animal's skin or its flexibility in motion?"
--Marianne Moore

I find it very disturbing that they seem to try to paint the burmese python as the villian in all this. When in fact it is solely the fault of us humans. They fail to point out that any damage to ecosystem equalibrium caused by ANY introduced species absolutely PALES in comparison with what we do to the planet when we build vast cities across a large percentage of what used to be a beautiful natural paradise. Or the damage caused by building 4 million condos and townhouses and the labyrinth of highways and roads to get to them. The ill effects of sewage and power plants. The awful byproduct of our factories and automobiles . What we do is a million times worse than 100 burmese trying to survive the best way they can. Why suddenly focus on "that awful python problem in the remaining 5% of the beautiful Everglades"? Seems a tad futile and a lot too late almost. Save the planet after we have already all but killed it, lol. And we'll start by exterminating those pesky burmese that threaten the lives of all those indigenous animals that none of us cared about while we were laying our cities down over their habitat the last 200 years.

It all just seems so silly to me. Like beating an already dead horse.
Our Website

-----
David Beauchemin
High End Herps.Inc
http://HighEndHerps.com

Big bad pythons are big salacious news.

I find it annoying as well, especially in light of all the
introduced, non-native species here in Miami that I see every
single day. I still haven't seen a Burm in the wild, but I see
Iguanas, marine toads, quaker parrots, Muscuvey ducks, feral dogs and cats constantly on a daily basis.

The idea that the local FLA environment is somehow 'pure' and
untouched except for these 'dangerous' pythons today is just
ignorant...

The National Geographic website which is excellent by the way,
has a story posted about how as many as 25% of todays plants &
animals may be extinxt in the next 50 years due to the effects
of Global Warming, which is to my mind a much bigger story.

If Burms manage to survive more power to them...

I know that South Florida is subject to scores of exotic species. Suggesting that a hundred or so wrongs makes a right is illogical. A green iguana or Quacker parakeet living in suburbia does not compare to a "top of the food chain" predator introduced to the ecosystem of the Everglades.

I was referring to the sensationalistic element of the stories
in the media.

Comparing introduced species and the damage that they can do is
not something that is restricted to 'top of the line'
predators, of course they can be compared, especially the
amount of media attention given and the degree of bias and
accuracy in the stories.

Alligators are the top of the line predator in the Everglades
in case you didn't know. I think the number of pythons getting
eaten by alligators is always going to outweigh the amount of
alligators being eaten by pythons. The same for wading birds and
baby pythons. I could be wrong, though. The pythons are doing
amazingly well.

To imply that the Everglades ecosystem will be any more ruined
by Burmese pythons than it has been by mercury, perticide &
chemical run-off from the government supported sugar cane
industry is simplistic.

It is a big sexy story don't get me wrong. I don't condone the
releasing of non-native species by any measure, but when
comparing the damage that has been done to the Everglades there
are many, many more elements to be considered than just
released pythons.

Well said. I suppose an additional point is that this national "news" is an old story for us living in So. Fla..

Iguanas, certainly not. About the only thing they're a real threat to is people's landscaping which is why even though few people will even pretend to be afraid of them they still have no problem talking about eradicating them by any means necessary.

A Quaker? Probably not. Tens of thousands of them in flocks that descend on a tree like a plague of locusts...maybe. You should have heard the outcry when FPL talked about dealing with the giant flock that lives in the local substation. Those murderers!

Are pythons in the everglades a problem? Yes. Should they be removed and if there aren't enough homes for them, be slaughtered wholesale to protect the native animals? Yes. Do the handful of captive animals that are realeased or escape every year have much effect on a large population that is already established and beeding? Not much I think. That's sort of like freaking out beacuse someone realased a few american cockroaches in Miami... Could they ever breed in numbers that would come close to the damage caused by domestic cats? I really doubt it. Try proposing a law to require a permit to get a cat that gives Fish and Game the right to come inspect your house to make sure you're keeping him securely inside...

Then of course there's the question of what they're eating? While I'm sure they're doing damage, all the stories are about them eating alligators (and cats). While alloigators were once considered threatened, that's hardly the case now:
http://www.biggamehunt.net/sections/Florida/FWC_Hopes_To_Help_Alligator_Trappers_11250212.html
And of course, someone else already mentioned that alligators probably eat far more burmese than the other way around.

I wonder how many norway rats those burmese eat...

They're probably surviving on muscovey ducks which aren't
native either and are truly a plague from hell...

I've seen two seperate accounts of Burms sneaking up on wild
turkeys in northern FLA. Now THAT is a picture I'd like to see.
Unfortunately both were killed before they could enjoy the
sleepy side effects of eating too much turkey...

Let's be fair. Florida legislators did not create this problem and are actually responding in a rational (or at least balanced) manner. The proposal is to require regulation. I cannot believe why any python fan would not jump on this opportunity to allow Florida to become a model for constrictor snake regulation. Florida has also regulated venomous snakes, thereby greatly reducing the possibility of a ban.

It's currently in the works. The only species proposed to be on it are problematic animals such as burms and retics...... I'll probably be grandfathered in (hopefully) and not need permits for my ceylonese or the new yellow anaconda.
-----
John Light
JL Exotics
Contact Me
Web Site

Good philosophy. Let's all get together and smoke cigarettes (like we haven't learned anything).

I still don't like thenews article, its misleading and gives the hobby a bad name. But I do like the regulation of the giant constrictors, to keep them in the possession of responsible owners, and I like the idea of jail time for those who abandon there snakes

Posted by: HighEndHerpsInc at Thu Apr 13 09:42:32 2006 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]

I find it very disturbing that they seem to try to paint the burmese python as the villian in all this. When in fact it is solely the fault of us humans. They fail to point out that any damage to ecosystem equalibrium caused by ANY introduced species absolutely PALES in comparison with what we do to the planet when we build vast cities across a large percentage of what used to be a beautiful natural paradise. Or the damage caused by building 4 million condos and townhouses and the labyrinth of highways and roads to get to them. The ill effects of sewage and power plants. The awful byproduct of our factories and automobiles . What we do is a million times worse than 100 burmese trying to survive the best way they can. Why suddenly focus on "that awful python problem in the remaining 5% of the beautiful Everglades"? Seems a tad futile and a lot too late almost. Save the planet after we have already all but killed it, lol. And we'll start by exterminating those pesky burmese that threaten the lives of all those indigenous animals that none of us cared about while we were laying our cities down over their habitat the last 200 years.

It all just seems so silly to me. Like beating an already dead horse.
Our Website

You know whats funny is that feral cats alone do more damage to native small reptiles,etc than all the non native reptiles put together times hundreds if not thousands. Ofcourse I think anyone that releases non natives should pay dearly but it seems that the feral cat problem isnt adressed by any political group.
I will be moving to Miami soon but have been to Miami million times and on a field trip I saw a feral cat with a small indigo snake in its mouth.
My mom who has lived there for 20 yrs had a few scarlet kings in her area. I would catch them the rare times I would find them and release them.
In last 10 yrs the feral cats in her area have shot up and the scarlets are gone.

Yet feral cat epidemic seems okay to those in charge there.

David you said it all!!!!!

Why is it that 90 python captures gets this much attention but tens of thousands of ferile cats get NONE! The state of Florida has the worsed ferile cat problem in the country. Ferile cats are a human threat that far exceeds the threat of 90 pythons. Don't get me wrong, I love cats as much as my reptiles but that problem is far worse. No one wants to discuss the amount of cats that the Florida Fish and Wildlife kill on a yearly basis. Next time anyone in Florida has a chance to talk to a Wildlife officer or Politician ask them what they are doing to protect the public from the disease ridden ferile cats! Maybe they should come up with a brainiac bill to ban fluffy!

Fluffy is out there right now,pregnant, just waiting to give birth to more Killer Kitties!

Mike King
www.mkreptiles.com