Exotic pets

[JonS]

Here ya go.  Hunting snakes in Africa:
Wrap arm in skin so teeth don't puncture you:

Climb into hole:

Use outdoorsman's flashlight to investigate dark hole:

Find snake:

Snake lunges (I think this one is from a different set someone added):

Snake grabs onto hide-covered arm.  You grab snake and hold:

You and snake are extracted:G]

Get snake out:

Kill snake and take snake home to feed the families:

  That's one tough way to make a living. No way!

[Hardware]

  That's one tough way to make a living. No way!

Well, they settled on snakes after trying this technique on lions and crocs.  That R&D was a bitch!

[maddjack]

Aren't humans the original , ultimate , invasive species?

[Snowbird]

I wonder if the invasive pythons could be trapped somehow. Perhaps they could be (Step 1) attracted via pheromones or an especially attractive den site then (Step 2) killed after being verified via remote viewing.

[KenH]

I wonder if the invasive pythons could be trapped somehow. Perhaps they could be (Step 1) attracted via pheromones or an especially attractive den site then (Step 2) killed after being verified via remote viewing.

Interesting ideas. I don't know what role scent plays in python breeding behaviors. I believe with some temperate species, females tend to travel in circles around a den or nesting site, while males strike out in a straight line from their brumation locations. Such behavior reduces inbreeding and spreads genetic variation. I'm not sure if such behaviors are typical of tropical species. Tropical species really have no need for brumation since they really do not experience a summer/winter pattern beoyond whether their side of the mountain is in the sun or in the shade that particular month.

An "especially attractive den site" probably wouldn't attract much. Most wild snakes I've caught, marked, and caught again rarely traveled far, though I've not worked with pythons in the wild. The exceptions would be some species of rattlesnake. I don't think most pythons actually congregate in dens in the wild. They spend the vast majority of their lives moving around only enough to maintain a body temperature of 80-90*F, seeking shade in the warmer parts of the day and sun or sun-warmed terrain in the cooler parts of the day. Some aboreal species may never leave the tree in which they were hatched, sunning themselves on the branches, seeking shelter from temperature extremes in a hollow in the tree, and snagging the occasional bird that flies by. A terrestrial species may sun on a rock, seek shelter under the same rock, and snag the occasional critter that wanders by. Some of the larger species are known to wait patiently in a single location for up to a year for dinner to wander by, then spend the next year digesting.  As far as I know a large snake will move only to the nearest game trail when hunting. If anything, they are patient and persistent. Therefore, a snake hunter needs to cover territory and actively seek out snakes in the specific ecological niches which a particular trageted species prefers.

While some species prefer specific ecosystem, others, such as the Burmese, are not that picky. Burmese adapt readily to swamps, rocky hillsides, grasslands, forests, and even under houses. All a Burmese, and just about any other large python or boa, really requires is consistent temperatures (provided by crawlspace HVAC ducting), a dependable water source (AC condensation, lawn sprinklers, dog dish, pool), and irresponsible neighbors who let their pets run loose. Beats an iron pipe any day.  

[CLAY]

Aren't humans the original , ultimate , invasive species?

No more than any other species that has spread.  

[Snowbird]

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/orlando_opinionators/2012/01/ken-salazar-talks-snakes.html

Ken Salazar talks snakes
Mike Lafferty — posted by Mike Lafferty on January, 19 2012 9:16 AM
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Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar met with the editorial board Wednesday afternoon to talk snakes and the Everglades. He was accompanied by Dan Ashe, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

While they were in town primarily because of an initiative to preserve land around the Everglades’ headwaters, Salazar also was making news this week by announcing an import ban on Burmese pythons that have invaded the Everglades, along with several other species of constrictor snakes.

Good for him. But U.S. policy on exotic species is what’s really broken. The ban on pythons comes long after they’ve established a large population in the Glades.

~snip~

Any attempt to control the import of exotic species is met with fierce opposition by reptile breeders and the like, who say such regulations are job killers.

Here’s the link to a video from yesterday’s meeting: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/videogallery/67468438/News/Ken-Salazar-Dan-Ashe-on-snake-threat-in-the-Everglades

The article is then discussed by three or four absolute idiots.

[CLAY]

Tis truth.  We ban things AFTER they are proven to be a problem.  Most countriues make you prove the AREN'T a problem befoire you can import them.