The Future of Hot Herping?

[FLVenom]

It is underground now. Take the Hamburg show for instance. What will stop someone from New Jeresey or Kentucky from going there and purchasing a venomous snake. What about all the WC Gilas that are usually available at shows in recent years? Sadly, this is what can and more than likely will happen. People will not give up snakes just because a state senator "says so" or some bogus law passes. If you live in a state that is unregulated, it would be best to try to get some kind of permit system in place before it is too late. It is unfortunate that you would need to do something like that, but the animal rights movement is very strong, well organized, and financially sound.

	Wild caught wild caught

[CraigC]

Do you guys think it would be beneficial to add species specific stamps to the permits? Kind of like our snook and crawfish stamps for saltwater fishing licenses.

If a permit requirement is in place, it would come out in any "underground" envenomation that the individual was keeping the animal(s) illegally. Might soften the blow to the hobby when the general public knows they were kept illegally.

Maybe folks in states where nothing is required should take the initiative to get permitting instituted. Personally, if a vendor isn't for it then I view them as the problem and not part of the solution. Policing ourselves would also go a long way to preventing total ban legislation.

Craig

[VoodooChile]

I asked this question earlier, and it got a bit overlooked...
What does one do in the case that their local Herp Society does not want to approach the legislation of a permit system??
Either because they are against a permit system, or fear that if brought up it would just lead to a complete ban of reptile ownership due to laziness and lack of funds for enforcement...

I feel right now my local Herp society sometimes has the attitude of "lay low and pretend they don't see you" when it comes to reptile ownership. Being in an area notorious for reptile ignorant people, I don't really know that I disagree. Id love to see the permit system be implemented, because I know there are people who keep these snakes that shouldn't and its just a disaster waiting to happen.

I guess it could be looked at several ways, if you get the permit system and ppl choose to break the laws, and are caught, the animal rights activists can argue "See? even with permits the public isnt safe" of course, the herp keepers can argue back that they are legal and havent had such an occurence, and this ONE person was breaking the law and therefore will be fined and charged by the courts...
I dont know, Im new to all of this, and I'd love to see it pass for the proactive benefit of the keepers and the animals.

[flherp]

If the herp societies are not willing to address the issue, then an informal group of interested persons would work as well. Hopefully, it is not just one person, but that one person can make a difference. In Florida, our captive wildlife regulations are reviewed by committee, the committee can be addressed by individuals when they meet and the meetings are public. The development of such a committee and the appointment of concerned keeper(s) to the committee is a first step to preventing wholesale ban on the keeping of exotic wildlife.

The animal rights organizations already have the ear of legislators, and plenty of funding. The types of legislation they pass appear to affect only people on the fringes, but if you pay attention you will see that it will affect all of us sooner or later. Getting involved and staying involved take a great deal of time and effort, but that is the only way that we can make sure that the concerns we have are addressed. It is not an issue that is just going to go away.

[VoodooChile]

I agree...

Id like to see a topic on how to address all of this for those who might be interested.
As far as states who already have bans in place, is it possible to petition to overturn the ban in exchange for the permit system? What would that take? (a miracle?? lol)

I know in Ark, there is SOME legislation, but very little compared to other states. We have bans on buying, selling, or trading native species, and bans on large carnivores w/o a USDA permit. (applies to wolves, bears, lions, etc) But I know quite a few PRIVATE keepers with different exotic lrg carnivores, and I am not sure they have permits or not..

Thanks for the info!

[FLVenom]

Exactly my point stated above about keeping venomous illegally and or in restricted areas with out a permit. This guy was envenomated by his Green Mamba over the weekend.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...OCAL/611140447

[BWSmith]

Originally Posted by FLVenom

What about all the WC Gilas that are usually available at shows in recent years?

Or willardi.

	Wild caught wild caught