It's good that people are becoming aware of the issue of irresponsible pet ownership. It's very sad that a two-year-old girl had to die for people to become aware. I understand Senator Nelson's using this tragedy to raise awareness of the problems of invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades and of improperly supervised pets endangering children. However, his proposed legislation would ban importing pythons and trading them across state lines, but the snakes are already here. There are enough pet snakes, and enough feral snakes in the Everglades, to keep Florida and the entire country well supplied, or over-supplied, with Burmese pythons. It's a good idea not to bring more Burmese pythons into the country, but since the state with their preferred habitat is Florida and they're already invasive here, I'm not sure what regulating their trade across state lines would do to help. If anything, it might prevent an overwhelmed owner in one state from getting the python to a capable owner in another state.
A properly kept Burmese python will never cause environmental problems or harm a child. A well cared for Burmese python will slither around its large, comfortable, locked habitat, look gorgeous, eat the rats and rabbits carefully provided by its adoring human (okay, adoration is optional), be gently and carefully handled by experienced adults when necessary, have a micro-chip in case of accidental escape, and never cause any problem to anyone. They don't even bark. We need to get the Burmese pythons already in the state and country under proper care, and Senator Nelson's bill doesn't do this.
We've got a licensing requirement in place already, but it clearly isn't doing the job. The requirements are adequate, but a lot of people are unaware of them or ignoring them. What we need is a law prohibiting the sale of Burmese pythons unless the buyer can produce a valid license. This won't hurt reputable snake dealers, who probably do this already. It will just give them a structure for checking on snake adopters and legal backup for refusing to sell to anyone who, in their judgment, is just not right for the snake.
Enforcement should be through public education. Through schools, veterinarians, reptile shows, and public service announcements on radio and television stations, people should be educated on which pets require licensing, which pets can become invasive locally, and how to find a dealer who will work with them as they learn to care for their new snake friend. A certificate for dealers who are demonstrably in compliance with the law would help consumers enforce the law. Educated consumers will not buy from careless vendors when they know there's an alternative, and conscientious vendors will ensure that their customers are educated caretakers. We'd still have the snakes, but we'd have much better control of them.
Yesterday, a relatively small, thin, Burmese python, dormant from the cold, was found in a Pennsylvania laundromat. According to the police officer who picked up the snake, the creature was too chilled to pose a threat to anyone. This snake is now at Forgotten Friends Reptile Sanctuary, receiving love (yes, responsible people can respond to huge reptiles with care and affection) and lots of food, as the snake was underweight. Even the police officer who was called in to remove the snake from the laundromat observed that in this case, the snake was the creature in need of resscue, not any people in the area. Although it can be hard to remember in the case of the 200 pound snake, it is true that they have more reason to fear us than we do them.
For more information on legislation concerning Burmese pythons:
Comments
You're an idiot!!!
You disagree with my reasoning, facts, conclusions? Fair enough. But what you wrote doesn't give me much to go on in understanding what you mean. Care to clarify?
A big detail of these proposed new governmental restrictions is they would reduce the chance of Pythons also becoming established in other states.
There are currently concerns Burmese Pythons could potentially spread to South Carolina and other southeastern states. Its not just Florida potentially at risk. (Google for the recent AP article on the subject.)
Restricting the movement of Pythons helps reduce the risk of them getting established elsewhere due to pet ownership. A big detail is the new restrictions would prevent people from just being able to buy a Burmese Python in the store where they may not be aware of the full potential complications of owning them. (Right now there are no restrictions to purchasing them in some states.)
Basically making it tougher to obtain them should at least reduce the number of casual pet owners who obtain them and later decide to release them since they can't handle them or the like.
They are invasive, exotic killers and are spreading rapidly through the south half of Florida and the Keys, along with monitor lizards. Removal is necessary by whatever means.
Thanks for writing an intelligent, thoughtful article regarding the hysteria regarding these animals. It's in the reptile pet trade's best interest to be extremely careful regarding the potential size and dangerousness of animals they sell. The laws are already on the Florida books to require a license to own potentially large or dangerous snakes since these are not for the casual pet owner. The situation with the child killed by the python is the same as leaving a loaded, unlocked gun lying around. All the laws in the world won't work if people don't follow them, act responsibly and use some common sense.
A bounty or a hunting season for the non-native pythons, boas, etc. in the Everglades and elsewhere in Florida would provide an easy incentive to decrease the numbers and possibly increase local tourism/business with out-of-state advertising such as.."Giant Trophy Snake Hunting Trips!" We already have a hunting season to cull excess gators, why not excess non-native snakes?
I'd like to thank everyone for the thoughtful comments. The question is not do we need to find a way to deal with the problems caused by uncaring or uninformed Burmese python owners, but rather whether legislation, education, or what mix of the two will get the best results. I remain convinced that supporting conscientious Burmese python enthusiasts is part of the solution.
You make some excellent points, except one thing you've written actually speaks volumes: "have a micro-chip in case of accidental escape". That's the real issue. Simply licensing someone to own one of these animals will not ensure they are responsible. Many irresponsible drivers are licensed every year. And if the animal escapes, a lot of harm can be done both by it and to it. It's not fair to the animals and it's not fair to the community. Snakes cannot be domesticated, and therefore should be treated like any other exotic animal that is confined to zoos that are regularly inspected by officials.
For a longer snake you have to be more careful, because the growth of Burmese Python is faster and becomes difficult to take care of it. The owners of the Burmese Pythons have become seriously threatened while breeding such snakes. If you do not handle them with care, you may have to be the prey of this giant size snakes. The pets should not be kept near-by to this creatures or it will swallow them. Also these snakes are very good at escape.
www.wildlifeworld360.com/beautiful-burmese-python.html
"Snakes cannot be domesticated, and therefore should be treated like any other exotic animal that is confined to zoos that are regularly inspected by officials."
Uhh, what? If silkworms and goldfish can be domesticated, why not snakes? Domesticating an animal doesn't mean the animal will fetch your slippers for you.
Also, escaped dogs kill more people than all exotic pets combined. Every year adults and children are bitten, mauled and killed by huskies, german shepherds, pit bulls, rottweilers, dobermans, chow chows, mutts, etc. Perhaps we should outlaw pet dogs too and keep them strictly working animals.
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