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BEACON JOURNAL (Akron, Ohio) 16 October 04 Snake collector runs afoul of law - Man didn't expect state to enforce requirement to add tracking device (Craig Webb)
Medina: A Medina County man's affinity for collecting snakes has failed to charm state wildlife investigators.
In Medina Municipal Court this week, Michael A. Hazey of Brunswick became the firstAkron-area resident to be convicted under a relatively new law that makes it a crime to keep native Ohio snakes as pets unless they are registered with the state and have tracking devices implanted.
Judge Dale H. Chase ordered Hazey on Wednesday to pay a $250 fine and gave him two months to obtain permits for the seven snakes native to Ohio that he now owns.
Although Hazey was aware of the law, the 42-year-old said that he -- like other area snake owners -- didn't think Ohio wildlife investigators would actively enforce the law for private collectors.
When investigators went to Hazey's Canterbury Drive home in August, Richard Cooley, a wildlife investigator for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said they discovered eight snakes native to Ohio that were subject to the law among the 80 or so being kept there.
Cooley said the state adopted the law about two years ago. It requires a $40 annual registration fee and the insertion of tracking devices.
Each year, Ohioans are permitted to catch as many as four snakes that are not endangered.
``We want to have some idea of the number of people who are engaged in this activity,'' Cooley said.
Cooley said the law helps ensure that overzealous collectors do not hunt snake species into extinction.
Hazey said he has been collecting snakes for years and is often asked to show off his collection to civic groups and at events in the Akron area.
Although Hazey said he doesn't disagree with the notion of the state keeping tabs on the whereabouts of native Ohio snakes, he is concerned about the stipulation requiring the tracking device.
For one, he said, it is difficult to find someone willing to insert the device in the poisonous native Ohio snakes he owns such as the copperhead and timber rattlesnake.
And Hazey said that when the device was inserted recently in his black kingsnake, the reptile died.
``These things are designed for dogs and cats,'' he said of the devices.
Snake collector runs afoul of law

>>Judge Dale H. Chase ordered Hazey on Wednesday to pay a $250 fine and gave him two months to obtain permits for the seven snakes native to Ohio that he now owns.

Depending on how long he's had the snakes, it sounds like he's coming out ahead by NOT following the law ($40 per snake, times 8 snakes--$320).

I don't understand why the state government is requiring a $40 fee, PLUS the PIT tag, which MAY kill the snake you just registered with them. Do they then refund the money?

If I were Mr. OH Fish&Game, I'd get rid of the $40 fee, but maybe require the tagging still, and keep tabs on mortality, reproductive rates, etc. of the animals in the program. Waiving the $40 fee should help encourage those who keep such animals to participate, and therefore better data on the status of captive native herps could be collected.
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Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

Is the fee PER ANIMAL? In Maryland, it's a flat $25 fee for the year.

Katrina

They raised the prices of the permits this year after spending so much money on the "big raid" which included a 2 - 3 yr. undercover investigation by F & G. Permit fees are now $25/yr. to keep or $40/yr. for a commercial license (to sell). Each snake over 18" SVL & all turtles/tortoises over a certain carapace length have to be PIT tagged w/ a micro-chip that costs $10/ea. (last yr. it was $7/ea.) available from.....ODNR.