Python Bans Smear Campaign, PLEASE READ!!!

[brutus13]

Thanks AB^ I signed it and posted it on my facebook. I was watching Nat Geo last night and they did an episode on the pythons in the Everglades. The worst part was they took baby python hatchlings and were doing testing on them to see their limits. They were giving some of them only salt water to drink and watching them die. Then they showed the python hunters with 10 huge pythons lined up that they shot and killed. Its was sad and I was pissed.

 

[preston897]

i signed as well. thankyou for that link

 

[new2gu]

thanks i signed that too

 

[Utahraptor]

I signed/posted it on facebook as well. Solidarity!

 

[herper9]

I signed it as well.

 

[chelvis]

Sign it, and man this drive me nuts. I don't own large snakes, never will not a fan of that large of a snake living in the house. But i know plenty of responible owners out there (many who get them from people who dont do resurch before they get them) and this snakes become family much like my dogs and tegus are to me. If they ban large snakes who's to say that water monitors and pit bulls aren't next. People have to stop listening to the media.

On the same topic, anyone see the 2 hour special on Animal Planet it was somthing like Killer Aliens. It was about invasive spieces mainly in florida where the same politican went on a rant about large snakes and now monitor lizards. Its sad really that so much money and time is going into this when there are bigger problems at hand.

 

[preston897]

i agree with you chelvis. i didnt see that show though. it probably would have made me to made to watch it. my internet homepage is MSN and they had a thing on there about anacondas. it was a video of an anaconda eating a capibara and they were calling it a brutal violent thing. making it sound terrible. when in reality...its just nature.

 

[chelvis]

They call that violent... thats its natural prey! I know there is probably some sick-o who has used free cats or dogs from craiglist for snake food, but there are sick-os who do much worse to those animals and people.

 

[preston897]

yea i know. its crazy. this whole thing has just gotten blow out of proportion. these people are afraid of somthing they dont know. they are afraid that it will kill them. but for some reason....they are not afraid of dogs? i have been injured by dogs twice in my life. and im only 20. once my eyelid got ripped open while i was playing with one...that was an accident. they other time a dog tore my shoulder open. it attacked me. i still have scars to this day. the only snake that bit me aggressivly was a kenyan sand boa. the carpet python i have that bit me has only done it a few times. once when i first got her. and once when feeding. but they let go right away. they did not latch on with intentions of hurting me. like the dog did. they think that snakes want to harm people. NO they dont. but dogs are more intelligent and some do want to harm people. that what some were bred for. but no they dont worry about those

 

[herper9]

This all goes to show the political correctness we are in nowadays. I remember when I was a kid, it wasn't that long ago, the Nature programs and such would show a lion/cheetah/leopard taking down a gazelle, buffalo, etc. I remember watching one once where they cut out that part and all of a sudden the lion was eating the gazelle. You don't really see stuff like that anymore. It's sad really, then people have this skewed idea of what is "violent" and what is not. Pretty soon a frog snatching a fly out of the air will be violent.

 

[chelvis]

ya to see those documentries you now have to turn on bbc... shame really becuase now i get kids coming into the cattle production class i use to TA having no clue that beef was a dead cow. Sheltered too much.

preston i'm on your side about dogs. I got three scares on my head from where a pit bull got me when i was younger. Funny i still love the breed, the owner of the dog was later arested for dog fighting so. I've been bitten by dogs and cats so many times and yet never by a captive snake... wild ones yes but thats me going out there and mucking with them. Should be interesting to see where this goes.

 

[preston897]

yea the dog that got me was a chinese sharpea. and the accidental one was a black lab chow mix. i didnt even think of how many times a cat has gotten me. and i think the issues with my snakes biting me was 1. that it was a KSB haha and 2. i scare the carpet python and got to close when putting food in its cage.

 

[herper9]

I've been bit more by little fuzzy creatures in my life than any reptile that is for sure! The only time other than a wild snake or lizard I've ever been bit by was by my ball python. Both times cleaning, right after I messed with some rats at work! Stupid me. The thing that I feel most people don't realize is that if a reptile bites you, it more often than not is your fault. I guess it tends to depend on whether or not you've actually ever kept or studied reptiles.

 

[preston897]

that makes sense. the world just needs to be educated

 

[Pikey]

I got attacked by a dog when i was riding my bike. i fell off the bike got bit 6 times got up kicked the dog in the ribs, then i hear a lady screaming at me to leave her dog alone thats when i notice she's in her yard with one of those retractable leashes on the damn dog & she just let it attack me...... but never been bit by a reptile when it wasn't MY fault

 

[preston897]

how often do you hear somone say "i was riding my bike down the road and i fell off and a burmese python attacked me and bit me 6 times. so i had to kick it to get it off" now compare that to how many times you have heard pikey's version of the story

 

[reptastic]

you know these stories remind me of my expeiences, i got attacked by a pitbull once when i was like 15 yo, it ran off the porch and jumped on me, knocking me too the ground, im on the ground holding this dog by its collar while it snapping at my face, all the while the owner is sitting on his porch whistling and calling the dogs name, i tried my best to throw the dog in the street when a car came but the car swirved and missed him. luckily it didnt bite me, i called the police and all they said was there was nothing they could do since it didnt penetrate any skin, even though i had witnesses who witnessed the attack, and that the owner had to keep the dog on a leash! now i have been bitten by more of the cute little fuzzy animals than i have the big scary reptiles and like mentioned before it was ALWAYS my fault! i have never been out right attacked by a reptile ever, it was always a bite, release and flee, protection! and even with the pitbulls attacks most cases arent even pitbulls but a similar type or a mixed breed who resemble one, but in actuality there was a statistic i read a few years ago, a german shepard, rottweiler, and yes a poople have more bite ictims than a pitbull, im not sure if you guys ever heard of bsl breed specific legislation, they are trying to ban pitbulls and in some areas they already are banned, i still love this breed and own 2 and one on the way! the goverment really need to get their priorities straight, i was robbed about a year ago not too far from my house, called the police from a gas station nearby, waited nearly 2 hours no one ever came, luckily a co-worker of mines happened to stop at this gas station for gas and took me home! meanwhile in the same area a dog attacks someone and you have police everywere ready to shoot any loose dog they see, its crazy the type of world we live in!

 

[herper9]

It is so true. The government needs to stay out of it. When we were buying our house the insurance company had a list of dogs that were no-nos. On the top of the list, Golden Retrievers. They have bit tons of people! What people don't understand is normally it is not the breed, but the owners. Just like with reptiles. That little baby that died in Florida when the burm "broke" out of its cage, parents fault. You cannot blame the snake. I also love pitbulls, as long as the owner know how to take care of them. Most German Shepherd dogs and Rotts are good dogs too! Again it's all about education. Happily that job belongs to us, because nobody else is going to do it.

 

[preston897]

yea you cannot blame the snake. its a wild animal. he was probably underfed and broke out to find food. he came across the little girl and it was warm and meat. so thats what he ate. he did what he knew how to do. im not saying that i dont feel terrible for that family but the snake was just following its wild instincts

 

[Blue Crab of PAIN!!!]

On the same topic, anyone see the 2 hour special on Animal Planet it was somthing like Killer Aliens. It was about invasive spieces mainly in florida where the same politican went on a rant about large snakes and now monitor lizards. Its sad really that so much money and time is going into this when there are bigger problems at hand.

LOL Did you see that part in the documentary where some CITES officers intercepted a baby golden tegu being shipped with a bunch of tarantulas? She was like "This is a Tegu, its a member of THE MONITOR FAMILY!!!"

I literally spat out my drink and yelled at the TV... :doh

But some good news: The "Save our pets" petition has over 3 times as many signatures as the "OMG SNAKES ARE EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" petition.