Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is a copy of an email that I sent to Andrew Wyatt on April 6th.....Below is his reply.

(Subject title of email)
What is our plan of action???

Hello Andrew,

I am writing you to inquire about the Public Response to the "Python Ban/Rule Change" which would add the "big 9 constrictors" to the Lacey Act.

On March 11, 2010 I received an email from USARK which read:

This is NOT a time to panic or take rash action. We have expected this move for some time. Please await further instructions on how to proceed. When USARK does call for action please take it seriously and put forth your best professional effort to address this important issue. We have done the ground work and have put the Reptile Nation in a good place to successfully meet this challenge. It is imperative that all of our members conduct themselves in a calm professional manner. We have our work cut out for us but we are prepared address Rule Change.

Meanwhile, it is now April 6, 2010 and many business owners and hobbyists are growing a little antsy about how much time is slipping past without a single word in regard to this further instruction from USARK. It takes time to rally the troops. The more time the better. I can't help but feel that we are losing precious time while we await instructions from USARK.

I know that it is important to address the situation in the proper manner. Certainly we are in need of guidance, concerning the best way to send a unified message. However, I cant help but feel that we are losing time....Time that could allow us to gain more support. We need to use this time to our advantage. I hope that you can reply with some answers about the proper steps which we (as a community) need to take to protect our rights as reptile keepers. Like many other people in the hobby, I eagerly check my email everyday in hopes that I have some instructions from USARK. I also check several forums. I trust that USARK is doing their best to provide the proper guidance that will enable us to win.
We are all looking forward to your prompt reply and instruction.
Thank you.

Sincerely,
Harlin Wall - WALL TO WALL REPTILES!
970-245-7611
970-255-9255

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Here is the reply I received from Andrew:

Harlin,

I appreciate your concern. We are concerned as well. We are working with a coalition of other groups to address this rulemaking. They are moving SLOW. If they don’t get their act together this week USARK will move unilaterally without them. We are used to moving fast and hitting hard. Decisions made by committee are NOT my style, but we are trying to play nice with others and keep a consistent message across the board. We still have plenty of time to make comment, but my patience is about gone. We will have something out soon!

Kindest Regards,

-Andrew

Andrew Wyatt
President
United States Association of Reptile Keepers
PO Box 279
Grandy, NC 27939
252-207-1041
www.USARK.org

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Andrew was quick to reply back.
Thank you Andrew...I appreciate it!

Anyway,
I feel that it is important to work with a coalition of interested parties. We need to act as an organized group of citizens....we need to be a REAL COMMUNITY.
We also need to utilize our time wisely as a unified organization of interested parties. The messages we send need to be useful as well as unified.

Earlier Jonathan Brady posted another reply on behalf of USARK.
It read:

Keep in mind that out of 1500 comments during the public comment period on the NOI in 2008, only 115 were used because the rest did not meet the parameters of the request. In other words people didn't do it right. Of course it was difficult... but that is why we are preparing detailed guidance to be most effective.

My point to this post is...
Time REALLY is of essence here.

We need time to spread the word to Friends, Family, Customers, and Attendees of Reptile Shows etc. Sending the appropriate message to law makers is important. But we also need the time to organize a true grass roots effort. This preparation time is critical to our cause. Everyday I speak to dozens of people who are surprised to hear that there are proposed restrictions that could devastate our business/hobby. They had no idea that any of this was happening.
People have been misinformed by mainstream media outlets. Television shows continue to air misleading and downright false information.

We have rallied to organize a fund to find the people (likely animal extremist groups) who are responsible for purposely releasing Burmese Pythons in public areas of Florida....(then calling the media for more "propaganda type" coverage).

Want to sent a message to lawmakers?

When will we rally to raise funds for a nationally run commercial to share OUR SIDE of the story???

The American Public needs to know about these laws...as they will affect all of us.

There seems to be a growing dissatisfied sentiment within the USA concerning "BIG GOVERNMENT" getting involved in every aspect of our lives. Heck, I think that the "Big Gov." issue was even one of the issues that our most recent presidential candidates utilized during the last campaign.
That issue has obviously not "changed".
If that issue helped garner votes for a president....
Our concerns will not fall on deaf ears.

Certainly there will be those who oppose us in a nationwide (more public involvement) type arena.
But we already have opposition...and it seems that nobody has REALLY heard our side speak up to defend ourselves in a major public way.
We will gain more supporters if we do a good job of presenting the FACTS in a professional and reasonable light....especially if we do so with a nationally run commercial.

It will generate more interviews with leading professionals from within the business/hobby. It will allow us to present our case to the American PUBLIC in a level headed unbiased fashion.

If you win the support of the public...the lawmakers will be forced to listen. Their jobs depend on it.
Just my 3 cents.

Harlin Wall - WALL TO WALL REPTILES!
970-255-9255
970-245-7611

I've wondered about the commercial thing too. It is not at all uncommon to see some celebrity doing a commercial for a cause that they support. I know there are celebrities that keep reptiles. How is it we haven't got someone to do a commercial explaining the facts and telling our side of the story? Any idea if USARK or anyone else has considered trying to put this together?
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Snakes:
1.1 gray banded kingsnake
1.1 california kingsnake
1.1 kenyan sand boa
1.1 western hognose snake
0.1 albino checkered garter
1.0 florida blue garter
1.1 het anery red sided garter
1.1 reverse oketee corn snake
1.1 blood red corn snake
0.1 amel striped corn
1.0 amel 66% het striped corn
1.1 het albino ball python
1.1 het ghost ball python
0.1 spider ball python
1.0 pastel ball python
1.1 mojave ball python
1.0 butter ball python
0.1 ringer ball python
1.0 African dinker ball python
0.3 normal ball python
1.0 piebald ball python
0.1 het piebald ball python
0.1 Genetic Stripe Ball Python
1.0 Het Genetic Stripe Ball Python
0.1 Mystic Ball Python

Turtles
1-eastern box turtle
2-spotted turtle
2-eastern/midland painted turtle intergrade
1.0-common musk turtle
1-Pink bellied sideneck
6-Northern red belly

Invertebrates
0.1 southern black widow
1-Tanzanian Giant Tailless whipscorpion

Amphibians
0.1 Ornate Horned Frog

Birds:
1.1 red avadavit
2-blue breasted cordon blue
1.1-black cheeked waxbill
0.1-star finch
1.0-Java rice sparrow
2.0-owl finch
1.0-hybrid munia
0.1-White bellied caique

Fish
2-corydoras cats
1-African upside down cat

normal stuff
0.1 black lab

Harlin covered it best.... The problem is not that people don't care, but the fact is they are not aware of what is being done by our government. It is like our government is trying to impose a tax and not wanting the masses to find out about it. I hate to say this, but I have only heard problems with pythons being a problem here in Florida. I haven't heard about Alabama, Georgia, or any other state that has had a problem with these snakes. Like one of the points that Harlin made in is post... This could be as simple as a animal activist group purchasing these animals raising them up and then releasing the animals into the wild, then creating this all of a sudden "big scary" reptile problem in south Florida... Now the nation is, for the most part, blind to the fact that there is a "Big Snake" ban in the works. Harlin is right and we as responsible reptile hobbyists and business owners need to let everyone know about this reptile ban. Hey reptile ban this time, what will it be next time? Who will let us know the next time? We already know our government wont. They have no intention of making the public aware of there actions. Out of my 30+ years of reptile collecting, I have never met anyone who has had pythons or boas that would even think about releasing there snakes into the wild because of the affect that it could pose to the ecosystem. Everyone who I have had contact with that had these wonderful animals have treated them as "part of the family" so to speak. Well I will do what I can to make it known.... that is my penny in the bucket.

all in all,the'big python invasion' is just crap.sure,they thrive in the everglades,which just so happen to have the same hot,humid,tropical environment as the areas in asia,(and africa,in the cases of the occasional rock python),that the burms come from.is anyone saying anything about the savannah river plant's experiments with burmeses that were wild caught in florida,transported to the site on the ga/sc border,and kept in totally unrealistic 'natural surroundings'(concrete pens,heated water pools,nothing like you would find in the actual wild areas there),and then,when the pythons survived,the government paid scientists claimed that the burms would indeed survive that far north.i call shenanigans.those same scientists are keeping quiet on the fact that this winter's cold snap killed thousands of burms in the northernmost parts of the everglades,thus significantly reducing the wild population.
why not a compromise-all pythons and boas covered by the proposed ban be microchipped,just like a dog or cat.interstate transport permit system,etc.
on a side note,why isn't the government going after potentially dangerous dogs,like pits,rotties,etc?there are WAY more irresponsible owners of these species than there are irresponsible herp owners.
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1.1 cb spotted turtles (parker(f),stinky(m))
0.0.2 cb baby razorback musks (way too cute)
0.0.1 cb baby eastern mud (also ridiculously cute)
0.0.1 cb reeve's turtle (george)
0.0.1 cb eastern box (this year's young 'un)
2.6 ltc eastern box breeders
0.1 cb'06 eastern box(nanners)
1.2 cb'08 kenyan sand boas(1 albino,1 anery,1 normal)
1.1 stenodactylus stenodactylus geckos
0.1 redeye croc skink
1.0 cb '03 homo sapien(kaelan,6)
"jesus is coming-when i count to 3,everyone jump out and yell SURPRISE!!"

Please remember what far left liberals most celebrities are these days. At least all of them that make commercials and push issues.. Its hard to tell now a dayse who is more liberal, our administration or the celebs. Where are the movie stars of the past. The bob Hopes and all the rest of them that would back our troops and entertain them on their own dime. Now what do we get these days ? A bunch of Hanoi Janes.. I can see Sean Penn doing a commercial right now on how Global Warming will make the GIANT snakes take over the world. I hope someone else saw what I did the other day on Animal Planet or some such channel where the Idiots were hunting the monster snakes, in fact it might have been Monsters but anyways they were searching for the Big snakes in Florida and found one that the guy had to "wrestle" for 15 mins.. I cant believe that they even made it look so dramatic but long story short there was NO mention of the 9 out of 10 Pythons with tracking devices that were found dead along with all of them we dont know about after the relativly harsh winter in the South and then they went to of all places New York City to of course show everyone that the Giants may survive that far North...lol. So of course they were hunting through Central Park because we all know those Giants can survive as far North as Barrow Alaska and whether they planted it or it escaped from someone they found a 9' Redtail Boa that someone just happened to find and call about. No mention made of the fact that that animal could never survive outside of captivity up there more than a few months in the Summer so then they went to the Subway and sewer type of tunnels under the city and had everyone believing that living and breeding in there would be the perfect enviroment for such GIANTS.. Geez guys, this is the kind of absolutly stupid Idiocracy we are trying to fight. You cant make sense with people like that. Sorry about the Soapboxing. Jay
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JEM from sunny AZ.

3.25 Normals
3.10 Pastels
1.0 Super Pastels(Thanks Dan Wolf for the best looking Super male I have ever seen)
1.7 Normal Spiders
1.1 Spiders 100% het Ghost(thanks Mark Petros)
0.2 Spiders 66% het Ghost(Thanks Steve Beamer)
1.3 Orange/Butterscotch Ghosts(BallPython777 Mark Petros)
0.6 100% het Orange Ghosts
0.3 66% het Orange Ghosts(should prove this year)
0.1 Pastel Ghost
1.0 Citrus Ghost(courtesy of Josh Hutto)
0.1 Super Pastel 100% het Ghost
2.3 Albinos
1.1 Caramel Albino
0.1 100% het Caramel Albino
0.4 100% het for Albino
0.5 66% het for Albino(should prove this year)
0.7 Yellow Bellies
1.0 Pastel Yellow Belly
1.2 Ivories
1.2 100% het for Clowns(Mark Petros)
1.6 Cinnamons(Thanks Stan Ruppel)
1.0 Pied
1.4 100% het for Pied(Josh Hutto)
0.5 66% het for Pied(should prove out next year with my visual male Pied)
1.5 Mojaves
0.1 Pastave het Ghost
1.1 Beautiful Black Pastels(thanks Gulf Coast Reptiles)
1.2 BumbleBees(thanks for the AWESOME Bees Marc Bailey)
1.1 Pewters(Myself and Scott Priester of Brookside Reptiles)
0.1 Chocolates(Thanks Brandon of Priceless Pythons)
1.3 Lessers(Josh Hutto)
2.1 Fire's(Thanks Brandon of Priceless Pythons)
2.2 High White Calico's(Thanks Brent from BRB)
1.1 SpotNoses(Thanks Brandon of Priceless Pythons)
1.1 Enchi's (Me and Josh Hutto, Thanks again Josh)
1.0 Pinstripe
0.1 Lemon Blast
1.0 Vanilla Ghost(Thanks again GCR for all the great snakes)
0.1 Vanilla Yellow Belly
0.1 Vanilla(Another one from Josh Hutto,I must have all your snakes now...lol.) Thanks my friend, Jay
1.1 Stillwater Hypo Bull snakes(Brad Chambers)
0.0.1 Vietnamese Blue Beauty
14 Tarantulas
Last but most Important 2.2 Children

Harlin,

excellent post.
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Proud supporter of USARK and Kingsnake.com
“We stand together or we fall apart”

Kyle
www.royalvariations.com

"be safe, be happy and dont let anyone make you afraid"
David Coverdale