ST PETERSBURG TIMES (Florida) 08 January 07 Editorial: Coiled threat stalks Florida
Imagine walking out your door and coming face-to-face with a 13-foot Burmese python. It happened in a Jacksonville neighborhood. In Miami, Felix Azquz noticed a pet turkey missing from his plant nursery and found the culprit - a 10-foot African rock python too fat from its meal to escape through a fence.
In Florida, large, nonnative snakes on the crawl aren't just the stuff of urban nightmares. They also threaten the balance of nature in a state increasingly under siege from imported animals and plants. Fragile ecologies, such as in the Everglades, are particularly vulnerable to the damage done by large snakes that eat native wildlife.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recognizes the problem and is trying to respond. A proposed rule would require anyone wishing to own certain species of python or anaconda to get a permit first. Not only would the rule make it easier to keep track of such snakes, but it could weed out the most irresponsible owners by imposing caging requirements and a demonstrated knowledge of snake care. The state might even require microtransmitters to be implanted in large snakes so that owners could be held responsible if the reptiles are released.
A final draft of the rule will be considered in February, but so far the Legislature is providing no help. A bill that would have regulated the sale of large snakes died in committee earlier this year because reptile collectors objected. So even if the wildlife commission toughens the rule, it would have no way of funding enforcement.
Only snake lovers can understand the allure of a reptile that can grow 6 to 8 feet in a year. Yet thousands of pythons are imported into the country each year. When they get too big or too scary to handle anymore, many end up being released into Florida's inviting wilds.
More than 150 pythons have been caught and removed from the Everglades this year, but the threat is growing. "It's a now-or-never thing," said Lori Oberhofer, a wildlife technician. "If we let this go, we don't know how far the pythons will migrate, how much they will reproduce."
The warning should be clear to the wildlife commission and lawmakers. A tough rule that requires snake hobbyists to be responsible and a reasonable fee to pay for enforcement are the least state officials can do to respond to this threat.
Coiled threat stalks Florida