Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just fired off a e-mail to wkrc, advising them that balls don't get to be 13 feet long. Way it sounds, though, this snake is in poor care at the SPCA. It sounds like they don't have a clue. Link to story below.
Link

Regarding this poor fellow from Camp Dennison, it's a shame but just adds more fuel for legislation like Ohio House Bill 643.

As a lifetime herper, I oppose most herp regulations because as we all know, regulations seldom solve the real problem nor are they usually well written.

But having large snakes and/or hot snakes, is just asking for trouble in my opinion. No matter how careful or how many safeguards you have, accidents will happen. And when one does, bad press is sure to follow.

Ohio legislators are especially aware about wild animals after that bear attack this summer in Northern Ohio. Unfortunately, it's just a matter of time before things get even tougher in Ohio for herpers.

Mark

The thing is, wkrc was reporting the death as being cause by a 13 foot ball python. It's bad enough the death happened, it makes it worse when the media makes up information.

Todd

Todd,

I doubt that the media is exactly "making up" this infomrmation. Most likely it was misinformation given to them by a non-knowing source and then was placed in the paper. I agree that the media should research things a little better before placing it in the news though. As far as the comment above about large constrictors or hot ownership is concerned, I will have to respectfully disagree somewhat. The danger that the animal presents to it's keepers is of little to no concern to anyone else other than the keeper themselves. If you are going to prevent ownership of something because of the possible dangers it presents, then you should also ban scissors, knives, guns, motor vehicles, balloons, household chemicals, etc. The thing that must be done, however, is to get the state legislature to notice this and understand. Their major concern here is keeping the general public safe. I certainly agree that these animals don't belong in the hands of just anyone, but I don't think that they should be banned. Controlled/regulated ownership (permit system perhaps?) would be the best bet. Make people jump through hoops for what they want and this way only the ones who are serious will want to go through with it.

As the case last year with the mountain lion that whipped up on the dog, this animal was being kept illegally anyways. So how would a ban have stopped that? People will continue to keep rattlesnakes in cardboard boxes regardless what laws you pass to prevent them from doing so. The only people that regulations will effect are the people who are serious and have a respect for the law. The ones that don't....it won't matter to them anyways.

I say that if we need regulations, it should only be as far as a permit system and possibly some caging requirements. Something similar to Florida's setup. However, the funding for this program should come from licensing fees of the keepers themselves and not the state. If we could impliment something like this, it would not only benefit us, but it could possibly also add a few additional jobs in the ODNR or USDA for a few lucky people.

Chris
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My Website
www.herpfanatic.com

Hi Chris!

Been a long time. The trouble is, I don't think any of the media outlets down here put a lot of effort into the ID of the snake. Depending on the paper or station, it was described as a 13 foot ball, to a boa, to just a python. Granted, if they were relying on the SPCA for ID, chances are that wasn't accurate, either.

Take care,

Todd