Re: NANFA-- Re: Snakeheads in SC

matt richardson (mrichardson2_at_charter.net)
Sun, 15 Sep 2002 17:22:20 -0500

Hey Jeff Matt here, My son caught me two 4 inch hognoses today! They are
awesome interested in givin one a home? I am gonna give one a shot for 2 wks
if I can't get him to eat I am gonna get him out of town out to the pond
where Ray took ya, I think he would do well there, all the toads out there!
Let me know, Matt
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeffrey Fullerton" <tcmajorr_at_westol.com>
To: <nanfa_at_aquaria.net>
Sent: Sunday, September 15, 2002 1:06 PM
Subject: Re: NANFA-- Re: Snakeheads in SC

> > From: "Bruce Stallsmith"
> > Subject: Re: NANFA-- Re: Snakeheads in SC
> >
> > Well, OK. We could get all worked up about the nanny state and other
> > Libertarian feel-good issues. But there is a long-term problem in the
pet
> > hobby, that people buy small, cute animals that turn into large,
> > hard-to-keep animals and letting them loose can seem a good idea.
Everyone
> > on this list has a pretty good idea that that's a bad idea, and in truth
> > most animal hobbyists know that too. But it only takes a very few
instances
> > of ignoramuses releasing snakeheads or some other fishes and we all have
a
> > problem that's not easily fixed. How do you weigh my interest in not
having
> > any of the Channidae released into North American waters versus the
interest
> > of someone who wants to keep these fishes?
> >
> Bruce
>
> You are definitely right about there being no easy solutions to the
> problem of people releasing potentially injurious exotics. Which means
> prohibition is no panacea either. Especially considering the way so many
> people would defy the ban with the tennacity of Moonman!
>
> There was a good article in the last issue of Herp Digest I was tempted
> to forward to the list a week or so ago. It was from a herpetologist in
> Austrailia who compared the restrictive laws of one part of Australia
> with states that granted keepers more leeway in keeping native species.
> His findings suggested that where the hobbyists had the freedom to
> operate openly there were less problems while in states with stricter
> laws and harsher penalties the hobby just goes underground. The author
> also suggested that laws resticting access to native Austrailian fauna
> would reduce demand for exotic species which are often smuggled into the
> country.
>
> Maybe we should consider such an approach for this country. Many states
> have strict posession limits or have decommercialized native wildlife
> which has commercial value and could be propagated sustainably by
> private breeders. So instead of Box Turtles or Bowfins alot of people
> have chosen to keep Green Iguanas or Snakeheads.
>
> I don't keep snakeheads, but I feel for those like members of one of the
> organizations I followed a link to when the Crofton MD story was front
> page news. These are hobbyists who have built a dedication around
> Channidae the way that people have dedicated themselves to native
> fishes, or turtles, or snakes, or birds or orchids. I won't go into a
> great excergisis about it but I'll paraphrase a Russian proverb - we
> should be careful about digging a hole for someone else least we fall in
> it ourselves.
>
> As for "Libertarian feel-good issues" there is a common misconception
> that laissez faire Libertarianism is a blank check for environmental
> abuse. Far from it. If you were to ask Mary Ruwart (Healing our World)
> about the snakehead incident in Maryland I gurantee she will tell you
> that pollution- even biological pollution is an assult on the rights of
> others and that person who realeased those fish should be held
> responsible for the financial cost of containing and cleaning up the
> infestation and restoring the pond to it's original state!
>
> BTW
> Bruce- A monitor lizard is probably good for rodent control in a
> greenhouse but I can imagine he'd be hell on the plants - esp as he gets
> bigger!
>
> Jeff
>
> lFrom the academic standpoint, of course, the most grevious sin of these
> amatures was simply that of any amature with regard to any established
> profession. They were self-appointed, self-educated, uninitiated by the
> guild, uncircumcised by the preisthood...n
>
> Mr Thoggosh : L. Neil Smithms lForge of the Eldersn.

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/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org