Plan to block giant snakes in Florida may hurt businesses
A day late & a dollar short, IMHO….
A federal plan to block giant constrictor snakes in the Florida Everglades from slithering into other states has snake sellers hissing that it will hurt business and won’t work.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to ban the importation and interstate transportation of nine types of non-poisonous pythons, boas and anacondas, which can grow as thick as telephone poles and up to 25 feet long. Boas and Burmese pythons meant for the pet trade have escaped or been released by their owners and invaded the delicate South Florida ecosystem, where they thrive on wildlife.
Other snake species on the list would pose a threat if released, says Paul Souza, a field supervisor with the Fish and Wildlife Service in South Florida.
There have been no known attacks on people in the wild, but in July, a pet python escaped its enclosure in Oxford, Fla., and strangled a 2-year-old girl. Pythons in the Everglades have been found with endangered Key Largo woodrats in their bellies; only 200 of the half-pound rodents survive in the wild, Souza says.
“A wide range of species would be prey to a snake of this size, which is a top predator and has no natural predator of its own,” Souza says. The proposed ban “can play a role if we can help prevent a breeding population of snakes from becoming established in the first place.”
The Fish and Wildlife Service is taking public comments at regulations.gov until Tuesday.