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Burmese Pythons
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by KaouthiaKeeper on September 20, 2012
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The war on Burmese pythons is apparently conducted on behalf of nature, an attempt to liberate the biotic community from the tyrannical influence of a life-destroying invasive snake. Indeed, Burmese python control is portrayed by its practitioners as an environmental initiative intended to save nature
rather than control it. Accordingly, literature pertaining to the python, scientific and otherwise, dutifully discusses the impacts of the snake on endangered species-and on threatened biodiversity more generally. Burmese Pythons are a pollution, according to the scientific community, and all of nature suffers under its pervasive influence. Regardless of the perceived and actual ecological effects of the slithering invader, it is apparent that popular pollution ideologies have been extended into the everglades of North America. Consequently, the scientific effort to liberate nature from Burmese pythons has failed to decouple itself from its philosophical origin as an instrument to control nature to the satisfaction of human desires. Declining mammal populations, particularly muskrats and raccoons, provide the bulk of the justification for python management. However, the impact of Burmese pythons on furbearing mammals nationally is rarely discussed at great length, particularly because none of the species highlighted (opossums, squirrels) can be considered threatened in North America. What is threatened by Burmese pythons is the economics of exploiting such preferred species and the millions of dollars that will be lost to the economies of the United States and Canada if they lose the ability to hunt, trap, and exploit these animals for revenues on television and grant money for "research."
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RE: Burmese Pythons
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by pitbulllady on September 22, 2012
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While I do agree that the war on Burmese Pythons, and large constrictors in general, has taken on the same tone as that of the anti-pollution propaganda, I disagree that it has anything whatsoever to do with humans "exploiting" the mammal species you mentioned, especially for the fur trapping industry. Fur sales have drastically declined in this country, and fur trapping is not allowed in the Everglades, period. Trapping for fur is not even a viable source of income in Florida, as animal furs in that state tend to be of poor quality due to the climate. You just will not get that thick, dense undercoat that is desirable in a garment fur in a semi-tropical environment. Further, one of the species you mentioned, the possum, is not and has not ever been considered a target fur species, but rather, is regarded as a "trash" animal by fur trappers, one they do NOT want to find in a trap, as their pelts have no commercial value to speak of. Garments made of possum fur are made from the fur of the possums found in New Zealand, which are actually ranched much like mink and foxes are here, and which are very different animals than the North American possums, similar only in that both are marsupials.
The war on Pythons has more to do with the Animal Rights movement to eventually ban ownership of ALL animals, and this is most easily accomplished if they can convince the public that A)certain animals are too dangerous/destructive to be kept by humans, and B)only by eliminating those animals completely will we/the environment be safe. They NEED to keep in the public mindset how horrible these snakes are, because it is still legal in most parts of the US to own them, along with other reptiles, so as long as it is legal for reptiles to be kept, they must keep implementing the Big Lie that these animals are doing horrible damage to the ecosystem, thus exploiting the current political correctness of environmental concerns. I mean, who wants something that is so horrible for the environment and hurts little furry animals, right? By keeping the Burms in the spotlight, they hope to eventually achieve a total nationwide ban on owning any large constricting snake...so they move on to getting that done with all other reptiles. There is intentional disregard for all other invasive, non-reptilian animals that are prevalent in that same environment, namely feral cats and hogs, because it's much easier to stir up public hatred of an animal many people already fear, the snake, even though the hogs and cats are actually having a far greater negative impact. Hate and fear are very useful tools to the AR movement. They know that most Americans see cats as cute and cuddly and hogs as "Babe" and "Wilbur", so they are finding it easier to gradually eliminate keeping of those animals by portraying them as victims rather than enemies. Cats are painted as victims of greedy pet breeders and the hogs as victims of "factory farmers" and meat eaters, getting laws passed that require mandatory spaying/neutering of domestic pets, limit numbers of pets a person can keep(including cats), equating multiple pet ownership with "hoarding", and passing laws that make the commercial production of pork cost-prohibitive, rather than focusing on the negative impacts or threats those animals pose when they get loose in an environment. The end results are intended to be the same; just the game plan is different.
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RE: Burmese Pythons
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by KaouthiaKeeper on September 22, 2012
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You miss read my post. I said that they were exploiting Burmese pythons by hunting and trapping them for profit, such as what happens on television shows like "Python Hunters". I didn't mean that they were hunting and trapping furry animals. In addition, I agree that radical left wing animal rights activist are one of the major driving forces behind many of these laws, however, since pet owners and industry leaders aren't driven or intelligent enough to organize, lobby, and fight these laws in court, we will ultimately loose are rights.
Essentially the real issue at hand is whether or not people feel strongly enough to fight these people and whether or not they are intelligent enough to do it. Unfortunately, we are losing this war horribly. Free states are being picked off one by one and no one is really doing anything about it. Furthermore, the animals rights activist have been very successful in influencing the media and we have not. For example, on animal planet there are extreme left wing animal right propaganda shows like "deadly attractions" which are designed to dissuade people from owning exotic animals by cherry picking tragedies and ignoring the fact that the vast majority of people who own exotic pets are more than capable of owning them. Accidents are exceptions to the rule, however, on animal planet, they are the rule. No shows on animal planet highlight the fact that the overwhelming majority of people owning exotics have been highly successful and that tragedies are rare. Or that some animals in private collections are treated far better off then animals kept in public institutions.
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RE: Burmese Pythons
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by pitbulllady on September 23, 2012
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The only "profit" to be made off of those snakes is just the 15 minutes of fame variety for the people who constantly love to see their own names on the news. There is no financial profit from the snakes themselves. There is little market here in the US for unprocessed snake skins, and the meat is useless, as it is contaminated with mercury. The snakes are simply a convenient scapegoat for those politicians who want to take credit for having restored the Everglades, which were damaged severely long before the pythons came into the picture by activities geared towards bringing in the tourists and appeasing the sugar farmers. The politicians all want to be heralded as the great hero who saved the Everglades, so they need something to "save" it from, without stepping on the toes of the powerful sugar and tourist lobby in Florida.
pitbulllady
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RE: Burmese Pythons
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by pitbulllady on September 23, 2012
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Post-Script-
Y'all are aware that HSUS is part owner of Animal Planet, right? That channel is no more than a sounding board for their propaganda. They want all animal ownership in the US regulated out of existence, and they know that snakes are a good place to start. It didn't begin with snakes, though; anyone remember the popular tv series "Lou Grant"? They featured an episode about dog-fighting, back in 1980, on which the HSUS served as the main source of information, shortly after HSUS had begun to transition from an animal welfare and children's protection group to an animal RIGHTS group. Prior to that time, few people outside of the rural South had ever heard of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. HSUS's "information" included a lot of MISinformation which is now accepted as "truth": "pit bulls" having "locking jaws", "pit bulls" being incapable of feeling pain, "pit bulls" having a jaw pressure of over 3,000 psi, dog-fighters "training" their dogs by kidnapping pet dogs, puppies and kittens and throwing those helpless animals to their fighting dogs, dog-fighters shocking and beating their dogs to make them more vicious. Now, for what it's worth, I grew up around fighting dogs, because I had relatives who were involved with it and had been for generations. A vicious dog, one who would so much as growl at a human, or kill ANY animal other than another fighting dog, was a DEAD dog, period. We had assorted mongrel puppies, cats and chickens, not to mention children, running all over the place, and any of the APBT's that harmed one would get a bullet between its eyes. Dogs that did that were regarded as cowards and losers. Because of the early HSUS propaganda, though, the concept of "bait dogs" and other animals being used to train fighting dogs is now accepted as the norm and has been heartily embraced by the gang/thug/drug culture that quickly rushed in to get their hands on the near-mythical animals that had those "locking jaws". HSUS knew fully well that the backlash against the dogs themselves would begin in short order, and it did. Create a monster, then slay it-the way to become a hero.
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RE: Burmese Pythons
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by KaouthiaKeeper on September 23, 2012
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I agree that prestige is a driving factor behind why some of the politicians and others are attacking pythons in this country but it is certainly not the whole story. Again, there is grant money in research and big money in television shows exploiting these animals.
With regards to the HSUS I am fully aware of their associations and intentions. However, I do not loathe their success. To the contrary, I view them as people who are just more driven and intelligent then we are. They feel that you should not own your pit bull, or your snake, or your goldfish, or whatever it is that you have. You feel that you should own it. However, they feel stronger about their beliefs then you do about yours. So at the end of the day when you go home and turn out the lights and forget about their stupid "nonsense" they go home and sit up at night and plan on ways to take your pets away. And unfortunately for us, they are quite intuitive and have been very successful. Mainly because they are more driven then we are and feel stronger then we do. Once all of our rights are gone it just seems to seal our fate as well. I am from NY and 90% of the people out here think that it is completely insane to own something like a cobra in your home. In fact, they probably think that there is something mentally wrong with me for training myself to be able to handle such a creature, despite the fact that I have been handling venomous snakes since I am 14 years old. That same people will then go light up a cigarette and engage in other miscellaneous activities such as driving and crossing the street which are, statistically speaking, much more dangerous then owning a cobra. Perhaps people just find things that they are unfamiliar with more intimidating then things that they are familiar with.
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