The idea is to show the silliness of any legislation banning something that will never be eliminated from the wild. It is similar to the Walking Catfish of over 25 years ago. They were banned and doomsday scenario's were predicted. Well today Walking Catfish are very abundant, have proven not to be detrimental, and are still banned. Thus far it has NOT been proven the Pythons are even injurious as I've stated many times. The best legislation would be none and let Florida deal with it as they have done sucessfully already. IT IS NOT A NATIONAL PROBLEM AND NEVER WILL BE. Again a commom animal found in the stomach analisis are wild feral cats which are the MOST single species destructive animal out there. They might turn out to be an important part of the ecosystem and beneficial overall. I forsee Python's years down the road being an attraction for visitors to the Park. Already the have them on some of the newer Park brochures as a species you might see along with Crocodiles and Alligators. So it seems the Park officials already realize the great potential for tourism these snakes could be. Instead of banning them they should be continually studied in terms of what they eat, how much they eat[not much compaired to mammalian predators], and be used in the interum as a tourist attraction which they already are. If they want numbers reduced [only possible near roads] the bounty idea is a good one that was thrown out there at the news conference a day or so ago. I feel we must adhere to the TRUTH unlike the actual "scientist" who are shaping their careers and future on this one snake. For us to lie or remain silent while a few espouse selfserving propaganda is wrong. One of the best arguments that can be made is that a ban will NOT serve any purpose other than to harm the economy of the U.S. A BAN WILL HAVE NO EFFECT ON THE WILD PYTHONS. Over time these snakes will receive protected status in Florida just as it has on Java where Burmese were introduced a few hundred years ago by snake charmers. This may take years to play out but I believe it will happen. It is only now that they are saying the correct numbers accrding to the population models. Before the conference 30,000 was the number subscribed to by officials. I have never personally thrown numbers out there only commented on their statements. I understand where your coming from as I've been involved in this from day 1 from an information gathering standpoint and helping to fight this both financially and recruiting others to help as well. It is BAD proposed legislation and will NOT solve any problem but create more. The ban if passed is a "pandora's Box" of unprecidented proportions.....
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Tom Crutchfield

www.tomcrutchfield.com

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