We’re against this
Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Editorial/225671/
THE STORY caught our eye. Like
a fishhook. Those who are paid to
know these things say the South could be overrun with snakes in the notso-distant future. And not just snakes. (Plain ol’ snakes we can deal with, and do. ) No, we’re talking giant pythons. It has nothing to do with Monty, and this is no joke. They say about 30, 000 giant pythons already live in the Everglades back in Florida, thanks to pet owners who think it’s a cool idea to own a giant python, but discover a few years later that owning a pet also entails feeding it and cleaning its cage / tank / snake pit / whatever. So they turn the things loose in Florida’s swamps—and on the rest of the southern United States. Authorities warn that the temperature in these climes could mean that, one day, giant pythons will scatter about the South. Which, you may have noticed, includes Arkansas.
Editorially, we have to take a stand.
We’re against this.
Remember that photo that was all the Internet rage about a year or two ago ? The one showing the giant python swallowing the alligator ?
Folks, if these things can take down Florida gators, what could they do to a third grader ? Or an NFL linebacker ? Or—shudder—an inky wretch ?
It was noted in the article that these giant pythons also eat deer.
Now that’s going too far !
Nothing will make an Arkie more upset than some big snake putting a dent in the deer population.
The government, on occasion, tries to be helpful. So the U. S. Fish and Wildlife folks are toying with the idea of listing the snakes as Injurious Wildlife under something called the Lacey Act, which would prohibit law-abiding citizens from carrying the pythons across state lines.
That’s great. But when was the last time the Lacey Act stopped a snake when he decided to cross a state’s boundaries ? Snakes aren’t the best readers, and we know of few that care about mankind’s laws.
We’re reminded of something called the nutria rat. That critter was introduced in Louisiana back in the 1930 s. They were supposed to be held on a farm, and raised for their fur. The story goes that a storm swept many of them off that farm, and by 2005 Louisiana was so et up with the nutria rats that the state put out a bounty on them. Lotta good that did. The big rats are still eating away levees all over Louisiana, and even parts of Arkansas. Ask a farmer with a lake or pond on his place what a nutria rat can do to the levees.
It’s bad enough that we have to check for wasp nests before we clean up the duck blind every year. And we can’t sit down at a picnic anywhere in the state without worrying about fire ants. Nor can you safely sit on the chair on your deck without the possibility that one of those nasty black stinging caterpillars will get you from below. Now we’re going to have to look for giant pythons ? It’s enough to drive a person indoors.
Eating our deer, indeed. And if we find one of them in the tomato garden munching on our veggies, we’re getting the hoe.