With all the bad news about pet snakes...

[Colin1]

The guy who owned the snake is a dumbass for not knowing how to properly care for such a snake. They don't stay small forever.

I agree
I wouldn't own a snake but you're right, I don't think snakes are the problem, it's the dumbasses who buy them, the novelty wears off, they release them into an environment (like Florida) where they grow into a top-of-the-food-chain predator

 

[Njaco]

Maybe we should be comparing the situation more realistically....

Lets compare the dangers of owning a pet boa to a pet wolf, not a dog....

Now there's a animal that hasn't lost its 'wild'!! And that includes wolf-hybrids.

"A dingo took me baby!"

 

[lesofprimus]

Give it 10 more years in Florida, pythons will be rampant...

 

[Njaco]

Yep and Fla is portal number one for illegal animal smuggling. Animals are #3 on the list of smuggled items behind Drugs and guns. And those things sometimes escape.

 

[Colin1]

Yep and Fla is portal number one for illegal animal smuggling. Animals are #3 on the list of smuggled items behind Drugs and guns. And those things sometimes escape.

Am I right in saying that the problem wont' be confined to the Everglades?
I don't hear many stories of alligators wandering off their turf

 

[Njaco]

The alligator stories you will usually hear come from someone who got it as a pet, grew too big and released it in a pond or resevoir thinking "It'll live..."

Last year pulled 3 ft cayman from an apartment resevoir - throw-away pet.

Its not so much the alligators as the other types especially the snakes and monkeys - damage, damage, damage.

 

[Colin1]

The alligator stories you will usually hear come from someone who got it as a pet, grew too big and released it in a pond or resevoir thinking "It'll live..."

Last year pulled 3 ft cayman from an apartment resevoir - throw-away pet.

Its not so much the alligators as the other types especially the snakes and monkeys - damage, damage, damage.

Chris
what I meant was the alligators (the indigenous ones) don't generally stray from the swamps, I think. These pythons seem to have a greater tendency for wandering, if this takes them into human habitational areas then the problem becomes a bigger one.

Monkeys?

You need to build a fence around the Everglades and just call it a zoo

 

[Njaco]

As long as the habitat and food sources will handle the need, they may not stray. But who knows. Most of these animals need a habitat thats warm most of the time. But thats for the indegineous ones. Exotics will travel, multiply and settle. Like African Bees, those tiger mussels or ask a digger about rabbits.

Warm.

Hey, what was that thing Al Gore was talking about?

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I agree
I wouldn't own a snake but you're right, I don't think snakes are the problem, it's the dumbasses who buy them, the novelty wears off, they release them into an environment (like Florida) where they grow into a top-of-the-food-chain predator

That is exactly the problem. Most people buy them when they are small and cute and don't seem to realize that it is going to grow very very big. Then they just release them. My friend had a really nice reticulated python. After many many many years it had grown to large (about 15 feet). He donated it to the local zoo.

My 10 footer was kept in a very large walk in terrarium. It had plenty of room and there was no need to release it. Damn army would not let me bring it in the barracks though!

Chris
what I meant was the alligators (the indigenous ones) don't generally stray from the swamps, I think. These pythons seem to have a greater tendency for wandering, if this takes them into human habitational areas then the problem becomes a bigger one.

If they can not find a food supply where they are, they will wander till they find something.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Here is another example of why stupid people should not be allowed to have snakes (they give us responsible snake owners a bad name...).

Seriously though, why would you put a snake in your pocket.
a. It is hazzardous for the snakes health.
b. It causes **** like this:

"Driver tells Conn. police snakes led to SUV crash

HARTFORD, Conn. – Police say a driver blamed a car crash in Hartford, Conn., on two pet baby snakes that he said escaped from his pants pockets as he was driving.

Hartford police Sgt. Christene Mertes says Angel Rolon, of New Britain, claimed he lost control of his SUV on Monday when the snakes slithered near the gas and brake pedals and he and a passenger tried to catch them. The SUV veered into some parked cars and overturned.

Mertes says animal control officers never found the snakes and police have been unable to confirm his story.

Rolon was treated at a hospital for unknown injuries. Police say they gave him a summons for reckless driving and other charges.

There is no public telephone listing for Rolon and it was unclear if he has a lawyer.

(This version CORRECTS that police didn't recover snakes.)"

Driver tells Conn. police snakes led to SUV crash - Yahoo! News

 

[vikingBerserker]

Dumb ass....

 

[lesofprimus]

Severe dumbass....

 

[diddyriddick]

On a similar note....

I had a roommate once who had been a controller on an E3. He loved to tell the story of an A-5 driver whom he was directing-"Rattlesnake in the cockpit, I'm punching out!"

Don't know if it is true, but make for a helluva story.

 

[Njaco]

It could be true.

I once was called out by the State Police to remove a 4 ft Ball python that an idiot who was arrested on the highway, had in his car. Had to physically remove the seat to get it.

Another gentleman from South Carolina on his way to New York called me out at 1am to remove a 3 ft python that was in his rented U-Haul truck - in the cab. Must have gotten loose from the previous renter.

People are dumb.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

At least they were Ball Pythons. They are relatively small and very docile.

 

[Clay_Allison]

Chris
what I meant was the alligators (the indigenous ones) don't generally stray from the swamps, I think. These pythons seem to have a greater tendency for wandering, if this takes them into human habitational areas then the problem becomes a bigger one.

Monkeys?

You need to build a fence around the Everglades and just call it a zoo

They had a huge one show up in downtown San Antonio, Texas near the riverwalk. They go wherever they feel like if they can follow water to get there.