Well done JB. Send that response to Obama if it gets that far so he can see the corruption within his own national organization. He is after all in charge of our country now right.
What I find to be the oddest thing of all is that we have been disputing the USGS survey for some time now on the premise that we know what climate conditions these snakes need to survive and I think that as the reptile community goes, we have first hand knowledge and evidence through our husbandry efforts for the last 45 years of what is required to keep constrictor snakes healthy. What I still don't understand is why have we not refuted this 100 year policy that the USGS and FWS has signed up to. They are trying to 1) make the general public believe that the proposed climate change WILL absolutely without a doubt happen in the next 100 years and 2) they are trying to cite that these constrictors are without a doubt MIGRATORY ANIMALS.
The USGS and FWS has also seemingly scientifically stated as irrefutable fact that as the climate change pushes further north, these animals will push further north in hand with that change. Furthermore, they are implying to the public that as these changes occur these snakes will usher themselves across the country, in viable breeding groups in such a manner that they are evidently capable populating throughout the entire United States. If this were true, then the populations of Sonora Boa Constrictors should evidently have already overtaken most of the lower western states since they were endemic to that area and climate for the last several hundred years. Oh. There’s my real point of my argument. The Burmese, Rocks, Retics, Anacondas and Red Tail Boas have been in a constant state in the areas they currently inhabit for how many years now? 10? 20? 100 years? Of course not. These animals have gone through species evolution for thousands of years to the point that they were probably in stasis populations in the wild with other predatory animals for hundreds of years now. This would have been far longer than the population of man expounded and we humans began to invade their naturally distributed territories.
My point here is that these snakes are not migratory animals. Boas and Pythons do not travel in packs like Wolves or Lions from one location to another where there is a hierarchal dominant male and his hoard of harem females that stay with him for food and protection. If multiple constrictors were to be released at the exact same time and at the exact same location, they would not follow each other in a straight line like nomadic tribesmen. These animals are going to separate from each other, they are going to travel in opposite direction and they are going to find their own location to inhabit where they may never come in contact with another animal of their own or a closely related species. We also know that in areas where Boas and Pythons naturally come in contact with species of crocodilians, there has become a stasis in the populations of both animals as they both have the propensity to consume each other and do so from time to time. This should be very evident from areas of the Amazon where both Anacondas and Caiman are found in the same localities as well in areas of Africa where Crocs and Rock pythons inhabit the same areas.
Personally, I would go on record as saying that constrictors did not populate the surface of the earth overnight. They surely did not move in such numbers to be capable of inhabiting there natural ranges over the last 100 years in the numbers that they are currently found in the wild. There is now way SCIENTIFICALLY OR STATISTICALLY that the USGS, WFS or Senator Nelson can prove that these animals will populate the areas of the United States in the numbers that they are stating and in the timeframe that they are stating. I know that and all of you reading this know that to be a fact. Unfortunately, the general population does not know this and Senator Nelson is banking on it. Could large constrictors populate some areas in limited numbers in different areas of the United States? I’m sure that they might be able to until they are noticed by the human population and hunted down and destroyed like what is being done in ENP. This needs to be conveyed somehow to the entire US general populous.
The death of a young child by a pet constrictor snake was a tragic event that never should have happened. There’s no doubt about that. However, I see no difference between that event and the countless numbers of persons that are either killed or mauled by dogs each year. Obviously there are people out there that should never be allowed to own either of these animals. No matter what the outcome of the current and or future proposed bills, we need to become more proactive in our hobby. We may need to impose our own regulations regarding “Safe and Smart” Husbandry Practices. I will probably never breed Burms, Retics, Rocks or Anacondas but if I were in the business of doing so, I would surely police my future clients for their abilities to keep such animals and even turn away some or at least work with them until they understood what they were getting into. I do breed Red Tails, Carpet Pythons and Balls.
To my knowledge, I have never been to a Pet Store (other than ones that I have worked for) or Reptile Swap meet where I have seen the Breeders, Brokers or Sellers of any constrictor snakes turn away any person because they were either too young to understand or just didn’t appear to have the mental aptitude to know what is required to safely keep and maintain these animals for the rest of their natural life. I wish that there was a test that people had to take prior to owning such animals that could somehow single out those people that should not own them.
As a side note, I was selling animals a few weeks back at a local swap meet. I have been trying to sell my Granite Burm off and on for the last two years now. I had to turn away a patron that wanted to pet my Burm. My Burm is quite manageable and I even had him out several times that day for customers that were interested in purchasing him. But, I turned away this particular patron because it was a young boy and his friend. Just before they walked up to my table I noticed that one of them had a small live rat sitting on his head. I also noticed that the boy that wanted to pet my snake had picked the rat up and placed it back on his friends head. After having this Burm for the past 4 years, I know his feeding response and his enthusiasm with which he feeds. This was a situation that I just wasn’t going to allow to happen, especially with all of the media sensationalism recently. What an incident that could have turned into.
I also have a 4 year old son that I am teaching the importance of being careful around these large pets.
Chris
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Try to be polite if you can...
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