Thursday, July 2, 2009

Wild or Pet?

Once again someone who insists on keeping a wild, untamable animal as a "pet" causes a horrific death. This time the death of his own two-year-old child.

Imagine the terror of a two year old in her crib, awakened by first a bite on her head from an enormous, 8 1/2 foot long 50 pound snake, then having the snake commence strangling her to death.

We've already imagined the terror of a woman whose face was ripped off by a chimp. Another horrific "accident" last year caused by someone's insistence on keeping a wild animal in their home.

Florida's Everglades is suffering an invasion of Burmese pythons who are beginning to kill off endangered species that actually belong in that area. Why is this happening? Because people who wanted an "exotic" animal discovered it wasn't as fun as they thought, and let the animals loose to live in the wild (rather than doing the right thing and taking them to a rescue location). Pythons breed a huge number of offspring.

Maps of hospitable locations for Burmese pythons (quite adaptable to new environments) show about 1/3rd of the United States as possible comfortable living arrangements for these predators. As far north as the southern tip of Missouri.

When will people buy themselves a clue.

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