Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiny Boidae
Decided to look into the real "threat" of these bloodthirsty monsters....
In the US, dogs attacked 47 people in the year of 2014, and killed 27. Between 1978-2009, burmese pythons killed 16 people in the US, and most of these were in the captive care of irresponsible owners. I think the problem is definitely over-sensationalized, and doing a quick google search of what the media said a few years back, the titles usually ran along the lines of "Massive Burmese Pythons Invading the Florida Everglades- Squeezing the life out of the ecosystem". Definitely not beneficial, but no one seems to be in a hurry to make a sport out of killing Cuban Tree Frogs, or the nutria, or the scarlet macaw. I think more focus needs to be put in PREVENTING new species from becoming established, instead of trying to eradicate a species that we probably won't be able to dent. Hence why I think that any non-native species needs to be placed under a strict licensing law to prevent this problem from becoming worse.
(Interesting site if anyone wants to see all of what Florida is hosting right now: Nonnative Species ) |
Interesting info, although I've got to think it's a bit out of context. How many people own dogs compared to giant pythons, naturally the number will be higher. I posed this subject as less of concern for humans as for the environment. I reckon more people are scared of their pets getting snatched up than getting hurt themselves.
One of the issues in my opinion is besides larger reptiles, the giant snakes don't have natural predators as adults. While some non-native species have had little impact on the ecosystem, others (the European Starling being a prime example) have devastated the local populations. When you've got snakes that can bring down small deer then we've got issues.
I'd have to go along with IW17 and say allow open game seasons on the snakes. As a hunter myself I've seen that populations can be managed through selective culling and monitoring. Problem is you get all these cooters shooting anything that slithers. While we all love animals and would prefer them to be rehomed, it's just not realistic. We have enough trouble at our shelter adopting out corns or RTB's, what're they supposed to with 100+ Burms!
I don't think licensing will solve too many problems but it's sure a step in the right direction. I find it curious that in my county you've got to have a dog license to adopt a dog from a shelter and go through the whole shabang with all the paperwork and a borderline background check...but you can go down to the local reptile expo and buy a retic and no one would be the wiser. It's kinda crappy to impose rules on folks who want to own them, but with such a large animal I think it's an increased amount of responsibility. I think here in Ohio you have to have a large constrictor permit, but I could be wrong on this. How bout yall, any local legislation regarding the larger snakes?
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