Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I damn near fell out of my chair just now. The 10 o'clock news just informed me that burmese pythons lay 100 eggs every three months! That sure is news to me! And they are still boasting the 100,000 number in the Everglades, yet 15 hunters managed to catch only 37 in four freakin months. Please.
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Spider

It would be a good idea for you to contact your news station (which aired that ridiculous claim about Burmese pythons) and point out they do not lay 100 eggs every three months, give the the average clutch size and how rare it is for them to lay more than one or two clutches per year etc. (not too sure about how many eggs Burmese pythons do lay...but definitely pretty sure its not 100 every three months. Doubt they would have that in a year.)

State true facts and sources...published works etc. to prove your point. Heck, maybe they will offer to interview you and air it live
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PHLdyPayne

That is exactly what I did. Originally, I didn't catch the reporters name (which I now know is Kelly Cobiella from CBS) and I sent my email to Tara Cardosa, the lead anchor who introduced the story. When I found out the reporter's name, I searched for her contact information and found only her facebook page. [If anyone can find better contact info on her, please let me know. I’m not through with her.] So I wrote her a quick message this morning just letting her know how horrified I was at her report and asked her to contact me and/or USARK. I haven't received a reply from either of them.

How are we supposed to fight this type of reporting? They aren't interviewing credible sources, and I sometimes wonder if they have any sources AT ALL. And forget fact checking!

I encourage everyone here to write an email and/or call CBS news and complain about this report. I will provide telephone numbers and email addresses shortly.

If they can ban one species of python, they can ban them all. And god help them if they try to take my balls!
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Spider

All the news stations care about is ratings, pure and simple. They want to report what they think will get the biggest pop, no matter if they have all their so called "facts" ass-backward. I apologize for the language, but apparently thorough research on a subject matter is of little concern to news stations these days and couldn't care less that these false reports are hurting so many people and a truly wonderful way of life. All i can say to people is do your research before reporting on a subject you know little about.

Chrissy
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what station was that? was it from south florida?
i think i have read somewhere that they can lay up to 100 eggs per clutch (i am sure there has to be somebody in the group that breeds or has bred burms and can tell us the right number), but that would be once a year or every two years...and how did they count those 100,000 burms in teh everglades?
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Neutiquam erro. Hostes alienigeni me abduxerunt.

I did a quick seach last night on this and found the following

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/27/eveningnews/main5804566.shtml

There is also a video. I didn't know people eat burmese meat. Learn something new everyday.
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>>I did a quick seach last night on this and found the following
>>
>>www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/27/eveningnews/main5804566.shtml
>>
>>There is also a video. I didn't know people eat burmese meat. Learn something new everyday.

Thanks. I contacted CBS about the video and urge everyone else to do the same.

I'm working with some people who breed burms now, and the largest clutch I've heard of was around 80 or so. So if these wild caught burms are thowing around FOUR HUNDRED EGGS A YEAR, I bet there are some breeders out there who would be PSYCHED to get a hold of some wild females from florida. It's just amazing that somehow, in captivity under premium conditions, these breeders aren't even getting a quarter of what these wild females are producing! Oh...wait. Maybe that's because the same people who brought us the movie "Anaconda" are the ones supplying these stations with news stories...hmmm...You watch, Ice Cube and J-lo will be behind this somehow...

And I also hear they can fly now. It's a combination of The Humane Society, PETA, and the media. They will say and do anything to make their points...even if it's completely wrong and in some cases illegal.

Anyone see the Whale Wars episode where the founder of PETA/the captain of the Steve Irwin supposedly gets shot by a sniper from a Japanese whaling vessel? It's amazing that the captain claimed to get shot while he on camera yet he never flinched or fell backward. There was a slug in the bullet proof vest he was ironically wearing. In oh so western movie fashion there was a badge he was wearing on a shirt under his vest and the the bullet was miraculously stopped by the badge. The kicker was that when they took his shirt off there was no swelling, no red area, no immediate bruising...nothing. It was all BS to bring light to the whaling situation. now I don't like seeing animals being killed for no reason but lying like that just shoots down any credibility these groups have.

So the media can and will say anything they want even if it's lies...they do it all of the time...it's good news. The Humane Society and PETA will lie as much as possible to get what they want and the 130,000 Burmese BS is just a small part of it.

They don't care about the animals at all...they care about the politics of it all.
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Matt Lerer
Ghi Reptiles

I saw the story and knew it was going to be portrayed very negatively when they made the analogy "like your Thanksgiving visitors that occupy your sofa and won't leave". I was most surprised to see the footage of Greg Graziani followed by the poor, and way off statistics. I am sure he did not know they were going to nationally broadcast and misinform that burms lay 100 eggs every 3 months! Anyway, I have seen the problem first hand. I was fortunate enough to take part in an all night hunt with a licensed hunter and we caught a very unhappy 6 foot burm. There is a problem that needs dealt with but I hope this is an eye opener to the power of the media and our government. My own mother knows basic information about my 200 plus snake collection and the story was enough to scare her! The damage is going to be even more severe to our reptile hobby/nation if we do not all continue to stand up, fight, and contribute to the organizations that support US ALL and spread accurate, educated, and scientific information to the misinformed that are falling prey to all of the scare-tactics like this story by the folks against reptile keepers.

Jared Carr

>>I saw the story and knew it was going to be portrayed very negatively when they made the analogy "like your Thanksgiving visitors that occupy your sofa and won't leave". I was most surprised to see the footage of Greg Graziani followed by the poor, and way off statistics. I am sure he did not know they were going to nationally broadcast and misinform that burms lay 100 eggs every 3 months! Anyway, I have seen the problem first hand. I was fortunate enough to take part in an all night hunt with a licensed hunter and we caught a very unhappy 6 foot burm. There is a problem that needs dealt with but I hope this is an eye opener to the power of the media and our government. My own mother knows basic information about my 200 plus snake collection and the story was enough to scare her! The damage is going to be even more severe to our reptile hobby/nation if we do not all continue to stand up, fight, and contribute to the organizations that support US ALL and spread accurate, educated, and scientific information to the misinformed that are falling prey to all of the scare-tactics like this story by the folks against reptile keepers.
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>>Jared Carr

So what did you do with the Burm you caught?

The permit required that any burms caught on the state land (within the everglades state park) be turned in at the ranger's station. There were large locking totes at the station with bags and tags to put on the bag. The tag identified who caught the burm, weather conditions, and geographical coordinates.

Jared