Reptile & Amphibian Forums

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/07/28/pkg.fl.python.in.drain.wfts

"some people get attatched to their snakes like dogs and say 'let's do the right thing and let it go'"? WTF? That doesn't make a shred of sense. Why would you let something go if you're attatched to it?

People do that kind of thing all the time. Parakeets, ball pythons, anoles, rats, bunnies, dogs, cats. I hear about it (too) frequently. People think they messed up and shouldn't have the animal in captivity, so they are making things right by letting it go into the wild. *That* part comes down to educating people how to care for their pets, but they need to have some incentive to learn how to care for it as well.
I don't know how many questions I have fielded like "Why did my (insert pet) die?" Usually it's because they thought the rat would live entirely off of pepperoni pizza or that the snake would just have to learn how to eat cooked chicken. People are morons.
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3.4 ball pythons
1.1 kingsnakes
0.1 crazy cat
?!.?! ASFs
1.0 husband

Without irresponsible owners, there would never be any media coverage at all. Its a hot topic right now, and I don't blame the media for putting it out there one bit.

What folks ought to do, in my opinion, is get equal time in the media. Contact the same stations that are running these stories, and have them run a positive piece for once. Give a talk to a boy scout troop, school group, whatever and have them local news come out. Talk about the positives of responsible ownership, etc. Show some beautiful, docile, harmless animals. Balance out every idiotic tool owner with a positive display...

There is no sensationalism involved in that so the media will not even cover it. I have tried!!!

No offense, but you have got to be kidding me. Blaming the media is wrong? In this specific instance blaming the media is absolutely correct. Sen. Nelson and all of the "biologists" that are involved with the Florida Burmese Python problem are playing the media like puppets and the media is allowing it. The Everglades needed a rock star to gain attention to bring back lost money, and with the Burmese Python, a rock star it got.

The truth is, the media just regurgitates what the biologists tell them to. They could tell journalists whatever they want and the journalists will run the story. I've personally contacted multiple Florida journalists on this subject to try and steer them towards more correct information, all the while asking what the source was for their current info, and every time they told me it was the "biologists", or Sen. Nelson's people. To be a truly good journalist, don't you think that a topic should be researched before a story is printed, especially one so damning?

The big thing here, and everyone should here should already know this, is this: Has anyone in Florida ever been caught letting go of a burmese python? With all of the law enforcement around the everglades (county sheriffs, park police, state police, local cops, whatever), shouldn't they actually have some sort of real proof of people letting their animals go, like actual!y catching someone in the act, before the likes of CNN, that's right, CNN goes and runs any story like this? They are making you, YOU the snake keeper look like an irresponsible individual without a shred of proof, clumping you, YOU with all of the actual irresponsible keepers. Not cool in my book, and I as well as most other responsible herpers am completely offended by what the media is doing. You should be too.

Him...lets see...how many square miles are the everglades? Yeah, nice. Point being...this hobby continues to be irreparably harmed by irresponsible owners. Over and over again. Owning up to that as a hobby/industry is the only way to survive this.